Newsletter Text V705

Getting online has gotten increasingly difficult and expensive last four months. Worse, access is outside since most establishments are closed or limited to drive-thru operations. Lap tops are not designed to be used in such an environment. Extremely difficult to see the screen. Time for the readership to step up and provide assistance. TC 7-24-20

In response to the pandemic, government quickly imposed draconian restrictions making access to public wifi exceptionally difficult. Consequently, editions of this publication will be briefer and posted as regularly as possible until circumstances change. TC 3-20-20

Got guts? Tired of being lied to? Like an alternative source of information truly independent and free of government propaganda? Want this publication to continue? Send a donation to P.O. Box 151, Buchanan Dam, Tx. 78609.

Brother dearest. ... Been awhile, hasn't it, Bro? A little antsy? Wondering when the next shoe is about to fall, that is, when you'll be fully exposed for the thieving son of a bitch you truly are? Patience. All in good time, good buddy. When I'm damned good and ready. Timing just right. After all, a son of a bitch who's stolen his father's estate needs to be fully exposed publicly for whom and what he is, don't you think? Indeed, a public service for your neighbors, professional associates, family, and friends, etc..

Conveniently, forget? Others need to protect themselves against a fraud who masquerades as both a teacher and a counselor, no? -- How the hell did you ever pass an MMPI some forty years ago to get hired? You're not stable. Have not been. ... Must have really been pissed off at the old man to rip off an estate, no? How much did you steal while he was alive and supposedly under your care?

How much did you bribe law enforcement to ignore a complaint I filed with them years before the old man died? How much did you bribe the prosecutor to ignore a complaint filed with her several years ago? How much? Use the old man's money to bribe the bitch? Her cohorts? Your law enforcement shysters? While there may indeed be no justice from a corrupt system, fortunately, I do have a way to publicly expose you for the goddamned thieving son of a bitch you truly are.

... Unlike our grandmother who scrubbed floors on her hands and knees during the Depression for peanuts, only to have what little she had stolen by her son, our uncle, another goddamned thieving son of a bitch just like you. Remember how, surprise, surprise, there was no life insurance when our grandfather died? Despite the fact our grandmother gave her thieving bastard son premium money year after goddamned year? Only, as the thieving son of a bitch he truly was, to have pocketed it. Again, just like you.

Remember when he booted her out of the house she had bought him when he had had enough of her? -- Despite the fact he had lied and promised she could stay the rest of her life? She had to climb two flights of stairs on an ulcerated leg to get to a bathroom he had never built for her at ground level as falsely promised. Nothing ever happened to the thieving son of a bitch as far as justice was concerned. Worse, he was never exposed publicly for the thieving son of a bitch he truly was.

Will be different for you, Bro. While you've bought off authorities, you will be publicly exposed. In great detail. In good time. When I'm damned good and ready. When exposure will do the maximum figurative damage to your goddamned sordid reputation. -- Just the truth, brother dearest, however. Just the truth.

Irony of ironies? When the thieving son of a bitch died, and our mother was finally informed he had passed, she cried for her brother, -- the bastard thief who stole from her mother. Sad, isn't it? Too bad she's not still alive to see you publicly exposed for the goddamned thieving son of a bitch you, yourself, truly are. As was he. Not in a court of law you've bought off, however. Right here.

In good time. Again, when I'm damned good and ready. Employing the very same tactics used against Amanda Wright of Wells Fargo. -- On steroids, however, since all dirty family laundry will be aired. All of it. No threat. A promise. Emails sent to your neighbors, friends, professional associates, businesses you deal with. Although an enormous amount of work, all doable courtesy of the Internet. Despite being some 1,800 miles away. -- Small world, isn't it, Bro? Enjoy the stolen loot, you son of a bitch. Forget? It's all you have.

Brother dearest. Save all the check stubs from the old man's accounts? Fraudulently sign any of them yourself? Think this material couldn't be obtained from the banks either through discovery or a criminal investigation? Still own the house on Condict Rd.? Any other properties besides this one and the old man's you stole with the help of your shyster bastard? Be interesting to see how far your assets extend and where. Think all that information isn't accessible? That I won't determinedly obtain it?

That not only an extensive Internet search will be conducted that will likely take months to complete? But an extensive background check as well? Think the Catholic high school you attended shouldn't be informed of the thievery of one of its graduates? Think the clerics there would be appalled at their failure to teach you right from wrong? How about both universities? Think neighbors in the old man's neighborhood won't be informed of your deception? Think they don't have a right to know?

Ever follow the advice of Dr. Bert Wiser, psychological statistics professor at MSU? That is, get treatment for your achingly debilitating instability? Is that why you wound up looting the old man? Or, is it simply a convenient excuse you'll use to defend the indefensible? Think this will end any time soon? That is, public exposure of you as a thieving son of a bitch? We're just getting started, Bro. Just getting started.

Don't like it? Tough shit. Sue me you thieving son of a bitch. Would use discovery to learn and post on this website all there is to know about you, your activities, predilections, business 'deals,' as well as all your financial transactions, etc.. All of it. Would certainly avoid the expense of an extensive background check on you, thieving brother dearest.

Even if you were successful in court, there is nothing for you to take, this remains, as well, a homesteading state where minimal assets are protected anyway. This site is hosted in an overseas country that doesn't particularly like government intrusion, remains not prone to cooperate. Besides, can always upload to another webhost in still yet another country. The possibilities are endless, Bro. Just takes willingness, effort, unshakable determination.

Even if I lost it all would be more than worth it to expose you for the goddamned thieving son of a bitch you truly are. Even if you bribed a goddamned nazi 'judge' to remove posted material, would not cooperate and be more than willing to rot in jail. Would certainly keep reposting it all no matter the cost and/or personal consequences every time it was taken down. Forget, you thieving son of a bitch? I never ever give up.

Since all I seek is your exposure for the thief you truly are, would all be worth it. For the sake of principle. All the work, financial cost, as well as the time I am about to dedicate to this effort, you deceptive, unstable, sick, thieving son of a bitch. Unlike you, I live on principle and have absolutely nothing to lose. You do. Will certainly take great pleasure and satisfaction in doing all I can to publicly expose you for whom and what you are.

To say nothing of placing enormous pressure on prosecutors you and your equally corrupt shyster son of a bitch apparently bribed. Don't like it? Again, tough shit. Chew harder. The public needs to know to protect itself. From you and your shyster bastard. People who live and travel in your circles as well. Including his. As a thief, you and he can't be trusted by anyone. You'll determinedly f--k them.

More than willing to provide this truly public service. People certainly need to know whom and what you are. What you have sadly become. You certainly weren't brought up to be a thieving son of a bitch. What happened? Where did you lose yourself, Bro? -- Never mind. ... Truly doesn't matter. Only your exposure.

Hey, Bro? Remember me? How soon they conveniently forget. ... Half asleep? -- Out to lunch? ... In your own perverse little world? That of a criminal? Wake up. Conveniently, gutlessly forget? Insanely believe you're someway, somehow off the hook? Think again. We're not done. You remain a thief who will be exposed for whom and what your are. What you certainly have become. No question about that. Patience, you thieving son of a bitch. Exposure is coming. Promise.

Think I don't have time? Truly believe the ongoing Presidential fiasco ends no matter who wins? The murderous decay in law enforcement gets resolved any time soon? Criminal Wells Fargo employees from local Kingsland bank manager Amanda S. Wright right up to and including CEO John Stumpf get prosecuted in the near future despite egregious criminal activity? Wouldn't hold my breath, would you?

Think I don't have time to handle all this and your public exposure for the estate-stealing criminal son of a bitch you've truly become? How could you steal from the old bastard, you incredibly sad sack of shit? Certainly weren't brought up to be a thief. What happened to you? Where'd you lose yourself?

No question, 2017 will be a most remarkable, defining year for you, Bro. Public exposure for the thieving piece of shit you've sadly become. It's on the way. Promise. Hope you sue. Nothing for you to take. Tough, isn't it? Certainly, makes me judgment proof. Will certainly, as well, take advantage of discovery. Publish every detail I can get my hands on. No matter the consequences. Only consideration? Prime directive? Your exposure for whom and what you are.

Readers? This not-so-brotherly piece of shit stole from our father. Manipulated the old man to line his pockets. Just like our uncle on my mother's side of the family did to my grandmother. Runs in the family. Our family. ... Right, Bro? This game now gets played my way, -- not yours, you son of a bitch. That is, no more U.S. Mail tag.

Anything sent by mail will be refused, returned unopened. Want contact? Email. libertyinperil@riseup.net. Quick. Easy. Better yet? A digital record. Permanent. Easily accessible. Easily uploaded to this site when and if it becomes necessary. The shyster bastard you hired to steal the estate shouldn't expect escape, either, from public exposure as the thieving piece of shit he, like you, truly both are. Unscrupulous thieves.

Sincerely hope that piece of crap sues as well. Nothing to take. Discovery again would be published no matter the personal cost. Nothing quite like public exposure, is there? Especially, when it is nothing but the truth and there is absolutely nothing to lose exposing two pieces of criminal shit for whom and what they are. Two pieces of gutless human excrement who looted an old man. ... Right, Bro?

There is no better disinfectant than sunlight, readers. Glaring sunlight. Dazzling brilliance. Amazing how the roaches run for cover. Equally pointedly, how vermin on two legs manage to so easily prey on the elderly courtesy of the out of control fascist police-state we now live in. While there'll never be any justice vis a vis this theft, there will be exposure to the brilliant light of day for both criminal perpetrators. Count on it, you not-so-brotherly criminal son of a bitch.

Hey, Bro? Hear of Old Sturbridge Village? Haven't? ... Not lying, are you, you thieving son of a bitch? You and your long-term companion EC conspire, bequeath some of the old man's loot to this museum? An achingly stingy gift of $250-$499, -- considering the size of the estate? The CEO and Board have any idea you stole it? Think they'd care? -- Just getting started, dearest, dearest Bro. ... Delusionally believe I haven't more than enough time, resources, determination to expose you for the thieving piece of crap you truly are? ... Under $500 back in 2013? Remarkably parsimonious with stolen money aren't you? What does it feel like to have gutlessly ripped off an incompetent old man? -- Dear old Dad. Certainly, look forward to digging much deeper into how you and your shyster lawyer managed to bamboozle and loot the old bastard. Back in the day, certainly wouldn't have fallen for your bullshit. Would have kicked your worthless, thieving ass out the door. Intend to expose it to the light of day. Indeed, a public service. Seatbelts on, you thieving son of a bitch. Tally ho!

... Brief aside, dear readers, for a most exceptional reason. -- Although infrequent, pressing ongoing personal business must come first on rare occasion. Hope you agree, moreover, find it entertaining, -- as this writer did crafting what follows. Principle trumps all. Remains prime mover, prime directive no matter what.

This pressing issue involves a family thief. A heartless predator preying on the elderly who must be held accountable, exposed to the light of day. Especially, since authorities failed to do their job. The following is part of that continuing effort to expose this piece of shit for whom and what he is:

Hey, Bro? Guess what? Me, again. Most determined pain in the ass. Miss me? An inconvenient, nagging hemorrhoid that simply won't go away no matter what. -- A pile with a smile that takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'.

... Delusionally think this most persistent nemesis of yours conveniently disappeared to parts unknown, vanished in thin air? To give a turd a break? Wake up. Not a chance, you thieving son of a bitch. ... When you insanely believe this writer's gone and you're finally in the clear, guess what, here I am, right in your face.

Despite what's going on across our formerly great country, always have more than enough time for personal business. That is, exposing you, Bro, to the glaring light of day. A pathetically greedy predator. Your target, who else, the elderly. Most defenseless, vulnerable, an easy fleece. -- Thought you'd steal from the surly old curmudgeon with impunity, no consequences?

Successfully escape accountability? Avoid detection, all responsibility? Blatant theft of an old man's estate? A little help from a bought and paid for hopelessly greedy unprincipled shyster? Supposed cake walk due to 1800 miles separation? No one to hold you accountable? Your feet to the fire? What could you possibly been thinking?

You've read this publication before. Know precisely who and what I am, what I do. Never give up. Never say die. Ignore all obstacles. Know full well Liberty In Peril modus operandi remains as relentlessly ferocious, blindingly intense as ever.

No punches pulled. No slack. No personal consideration. Certainly, not for a gutless son of a bitch, no more than a thieving predator. Looted target, guess who, dear old dad. Pitiful. Delusionally believe you had the booty coming? An entitlement? For having had to put up with his shit all those years? Wake up.

Hear of Historic Deerfield? Of course, you have, you lying son of a bitch. Forget? You're one of their not-so-generous 'benefactors.' ... With all the money stolen from our father's estate, only bequeath them a piss poor $40 bucks?

Unbelievable. An achingly tight, cheap, thieving, worthless piece of duplicitous crap. ... Write-off? Negligible. ... Feather in the cap? How? Delusionally believe your treachery would never see the light of day? What planet do you live on?

Board of Trustees Chair Anne K. Groves know full well you looted the estate? How about President Philip Zea? Think both don't have a right to know? How about Anne Lanning, Vice President For Museum Affairs? To say nothing of Susan Martinelli, Vice President For Business Affairs?

These officials are entitled to know precisely whom they're doing business with. A thief. Gutless phony. Blow-hard fraud. Hoity-toity dandy. Worse? An unprincipled thief who stole from his father. ... Glaring light of day sucks, doesn't it, Bro? No escaping the unvarnished truth, this most bitter reality. Not a chance.

Saddest of all? Back in the day, Hell would have frozen over before anyone would have have been able to rip off the craggy old bastard. Remember quite well how intent, determined he was not to be fleeced late in life by a sick son of a bitch like you.

A leech. Ironic, isn't it? Gutless rip off of an old man who couldn't adequately handle his affairs any longer. How do you sleep nights?

Fraud runs in the family, clearly. History repeating itself. Right in the footsteps of our grandmother's son, who callously ripped off his mother decades ago. Again, another achingly pathetic piece of human excrement. Just like you. Intend to lay it bare. Methodically. Painstakingly. In great detail. Living, breathing color.

For all to see. A public service. Exposure of the criminal piece of human excrement you truly are. For sustained public review. A goddamned thief. Pissed? Chagrined? Nonplused? Tough shit. Sue. Would certainly immediately post all discovery no matter the consequences.

All snail mail will be returned unopened. No phone tag. Got something to say? Email. Say it right here. On this website. In public. For the world to see. Will be posted in its entirety. No editing. Unlike you, this writer doesn't lie, cheat, steal. Honors his word. Intend to expose you precisely for whom and what you are.

Duplicitous predator who preyed on his own father. Blinding exposure to benefit the community. Have nothing to lose providing this public service, but you do. No better disinfectant than sunshine.

.. Think the old bastard not spinning in his grave? -- Old lady not doing the same? One thing for certain. Neither brought you up to be a goddamned thief. Yet, here we are. ... Until next time, Tally Ho!

... Hey, Sheriff? Is it true Llano County Attorney Becky Lange has advised you to stay out of the "Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764" fiasco? That right, Bill? Isn't that obstruction of justice? Also true your deputies have advised the Bolens to accept the status quo and not force the no-trespassing issue with Greene? If so, isn't that also obstruction and official oppression? When will you do your job, Bill? As an elected official, you answer to the public, forget? -- No honor? ... No honor at all? If the foregoing allegations are indeed true, didn't you swear an oath to uphold the law and Constitution? Why aren't you doing so? No guts?

Your deputy has been accused of abusing authority. What action have you taken other than ignore the complaint? Why aren't both Rodriguez and the County Attorney under criminal investigation? The County Attorney appears to be obstructing justice, accepting the word of Greene in lieu of two surveyor companies who strongly assert otherwise. Both the County Attorney and District Attorney have ignored complaints. Par for the course in Llano County, isn't it? Failed to do their jobs. No surprise there, right, Bill? Both receiving 'special consideration' up to and/or including a bribe from Greene? Regardless, clearly, no justice in Nazi Llano County. Bottom line? Desperate need for an outside criminal investigation. Conveniently, forget? This County is ruled by men, certainly not rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Precisely, why there is desperate need for a new federal agency whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, and prosecute criminal law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges in a special court whose only mandate would be to adjudicate such cases. Total independence. Until that happens, the criminal bastards who falsely believe they run and own this hell hole County will continue to do as they please.

Some salient quotes occurring later on in this edition vis a vis unfinished business County officials continue to ignore:

... "No justice. Precisely, why there is desperate need for a new federal agency whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, and prosecute corrupt, abusive, criminal officers, prosecutors, and judges in a special court that would adjudicate only these cases. Total independence. The only way to rein in these criminals, particularly the murderers in blue.

Sadly, the achingly clueless bastards in law enforcement don't need a legitimate reason to kill. Enjoy carte blanche to murder on the job. Nearly always, with impunity. ... Right, Sheriff? Sue the living shit out of the jackbooted motherf--kers, the department, and the city. Any officer engaged in, or threatening this kind of unnecessary violence needs to be criminally prosecuted. Not protected and coddled. Not put on paid leave, -- no more than a paid vacation. Not sent home without pay to catch up on his beauty sleep.

Firing is egregiously insufficient. How can the law enforcement community be trusted? No foreign power, no terrorist organization, not even the criminal element presents a greater threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties than the criminal jackbooted bastards in law enforcement. ... Right, Sheriff? Madam County Attorney? "Sonny Boy?"

These are extremely dangerous times for our formerly great country. ... Hear the rumble? An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming. -- As our legislators and other government officials figuratively 'fiddle while Rome burns.'

Not good enough. Nowhere near. Short of an unwanted dreaded second American revolution, only one way for these atrocities to end. Again, time for a new federal agency whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, prosecute corrupt, abusive, criminal officers, prosecutors, and judges in a special court whose sole function would be to adjudicate such cases. Total independence.

Local and state authorities are egregiously incapable of handling these cases. Tend to protect their own. ... Right, Sheriff? Goes with the territory, doesn't it, Bill? Precisely, why there is no faith or trust in your criminal jackbooted bastards. Local authorities here in Nazi Llano County have their heads figuratively, securely lodged so far up their clueless ass their eyeballs are turning inside out. Protect and coddle your clueless, out of control officers. Imagine that.

Unadulterated, blatant ongoing horse shit. ... Right, Bill? F--k these jackbooted bastards. Aren't worth a crap. Continually abrogate their oaths of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution. ... Right, Sheriff? Includes not only deputies, but the brass as well. No principles. No honor. Lying, conniving, abusive, murderous jackbooted thieving thugs. The American Civil Liberties Union needs to step up and represent the victims of abusive law enforcement.

To say nothing of innocent civilians all across our formerly great country who are victimized by abusive police. Need far better representation than a public defender. Forget? It's how the bastards in government line government coffers. All too often, looting the innocent. Those on the bottom of the food chain. ... Right, Sheriff?

No justice. The American Way. Nazi America. When is this shit finally going to end? All of it. Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? Two hundred forty-seven weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace.

Why are you still sitting on this information? What are you hiding, Sheriff? What is the identity of the officers who killed Wise? Too gutless to release this information to the public that pays your salary and that of your goons? Reportedly, there were three officers involved in the shooting. Who the hell are they?

When will the goddamned 'law' 'enforcement' community finally stop making excuses for engaging in outrageous criminal activity including blatant murder, violent assault, sexual assault, theft, drug trafficking, etc.? List can go on and on. Protecting its own no matter what it does or doesn't do? Convenient, isn't it, Sheriff? Again, no foreign power, no terrorist organization, not even the criminal element presents a greater threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties than all branches and levels of government, -- including law enforcement.

Corruption within law enforcement remains an existential threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. So what else is new? ... Right, Bill? Same old duplicitous, aggressively stupid shit occurs right here in Nazi Llano County. ... Doesn't it, Sheriff?

Think it'll change any time soon? Don't hold your breath, readers. Not how things work in Nazi America, right, Sheriff? Highly reminiscent of how your goons operate though, isn't it, Bill? Forget? 'Stupid is as stupid does.' F--ked up is f--ked up no matter where, no matter how. Problem throughout all law enforcement.

Including right here in Nazi Llano County, right, Sheriff? Too many officers clearly have their heads securely lodged where the sun seldom shines. Egregious insanity continues to be perpetrated by the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue. Ongoing issue. All over our formerly great country.

Not just in Dallas as in the Guyger case, but all over the nation. No end to it. Surprised? Why? In today's increasingly national socialist climate anything goes, right, Bill? Live in a de facto fascist police-state, quickly transitioning to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich. Certainly, a problem here in Nazi Llano County, isn't it, Sheriff? Your goons, however, aren't held accountable when they egregiously f--k up. Ever.

Precisely why you refuse to release information on your deputies to the long-suffering public? That is, employment history, criminal background, results of drug testing, etc.. ... Got to protect your criminal jackbooted thugs preying on the citizenry with virtual impunity, right, sir?

Equally pointedly, why hasn't Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 been held criminally accountable for egregious abuse of power involving denial of property rights to a Kingsland property owner? To say nothing of consequent resultant physical damage done to a motor home on that property. Why are you protecting this clueless son of a bitch, Sheriff?

Why hasn't he been prosecuted for official oppression? Where is financial compensation for the damage this jackbooted piece of human excrement is responsible for? Ferociously pointedly, why are the District Attorney and the County Attorney continuing to protect this jackbooted piece of shit? He and others like him present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

Equally to the point, why are your jackbooted pieces of human excrement refusing to enforce Berardi's property rights? Your goons have failed to take action against Theresa Ahrens when she tore down a no trespassing sign and barrier on Berardi's property. Have you, your goons, and/or Madam County Attorney been bribed by Johnny Greene?

Ahrens frequently drives all the way through Berardi's property. Coup de grace? When Berardi complained to Llano County Deputy Idle about the trespassing, the officer's response was insane. Said the Sheriff told him to tell Berardi since Ahrens believes she owns his property she can't be charged with trespassing. Perfect Catch-22, right, Sheriff? You're not fit for office, Bill. Bribed by Johnny Greene?

Why is Theresa Ahrens allowed by your goons to dictate what vehicles can and cannot be parked on Berardi's property? Ahrens claims she has proof the property belongs to her where the vehicle was parked. Has failed to produce it. Surveyors say otherwise. Back up Berardi. Yet, your jackbooted bastards refuse to enforce Berardi's property rights. Why? Somebody lining somebody's pockets, Sheriff?

Ms. Ahrens micro-mini portable 'house' is parked on an unused unmarked Llano County road. Imagine that. Madam County Attorney well-aware. Has done nothing. Shit squat. Egregiously ignored her oath of office. Someone bribing you, Becky? Lining your pockets, Counselor? Paying you not to sell the unused unmarked County road to Berardi? Doesn't the County want and need the sale money, to say nothing of the resultant tax income?

No question, County and State agencies remain determinedly, concertedly, achingly incapable of criminal investigation of their own. Precisely, why a new federal agency desperately needs to be created whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, prosecute corrupt, abusive, criminal officers, prosecutors, and judges in a special court whose sole function would be to adjudicate only such cases. Total independence. Certainly, go a long, long way to cleaning up this cess pool County. Rein in the outrageously corrupt, abusive, achingly inept, self-serving assholes who run and own this hell hole.

Sheriff, you falsely claim the Kingsland County Commissioner has the authority to resolve this ongoing property rights issue. Clearly, doesn't. You, Madam County Attorney, and "Sonny Boy" are certainly an egregious impediment, continue to determinedly stonewall. Someone's pockets are being lined. Again, where's financial compensation for the damage Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 is directly responsible for to the Pace Arrow? Why hasn't he been prosecuted for this damage, to say nothing of infringement of Berardi's property rights? -- Just getting started, Sheriff. Far more to come.

-- You're not doing your jobs, Sheriff. You've got a loose vicious dog problem in Kingsland, Bill. When will you and the troops finally do something about this ongoing issue? Certainly, a recurring problem on Skyline, particularly on occasion at the intersection of Odessa. Pedestrians, runners, and cyclists are at risk. Too busy lining County coffers with bogus tickets?"

Wiley B. "Sonny" McAfee
District Attorney
33rd and 424th Judicial Districts
Llano, TX 78643

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

The enclosed emails were sent to the Llano County Attorney and Sheriff, respectively, vis a vis the above matter. Remain unanswered. The County Attorney appears to be protecting and defending the deputy at behest of Kingsland property owner Johnny Greene. May have received some consideration from Greene up to and including a bribe. Are the County Attorney, Greene, and the Deputy under criminal investigation? If not, why not?

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

Rebecca Lange, Llano County Attorney
Llano County Attorney's Office
Llano, Texas 78643

Re: Berardi Property Rights Denial-Damage To Pace Arrow-Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764

As you're well aware, we have an outrageously corrupt, abusive, achingly inept Llano County Sheriff's Office here in Nazi Llano County. Worse, you and your office aid and abet these SS jackbooted bastards in black. The issue at the moment is the same it's been the last six months.

How is it two surveyor companies, the Appraisal District, the Tax Office, the Precinct 3 Commissioner, even the goddamned Sheriff himself now states Kingsland resident James Berardi owns the lots in contention all these months?

Yet, you ludicrously assert that's not the County's legal position. It's not? Why not? You claim you're not a real estate expert. Rather than accept the advice of two surveyor companies, the Precinct 3 Commissioner, the Appraisal District, the Tax Office, and even the Sheriff himself, you've inexplicably chosen to follow the advice of property owner Johnny Greene, -- who conveniently happens to be reportedly in the oil industry.

Question to be asked. Could you have received any 'consideration' in return, -- up to and including a bribe? Only way to know for sure is for the District Attorney to conduct a criminal investigation. Apparently, there has been none. If not, why not?

Equally pointedly, why hasn't Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764 been held criminally accountable for egregious abuse of power involving denial of property rights to this Kingsland property owner? To say nothing of consequent resultant physical damage done to a motor home on that property.

Our achingly useless, worthless, gutless Sheriff has ignored an email vis a vis the damage this jackbooted thug is responsible for. Interestingly, his fellow officers believe him to be an idiot. Yet, the Sheriff continued to defend this piece of human excrement until he realized this entire fiasco would not be swept under the carpet.

Rodriguez is indeed an idiot. Would you believe this piece of crap ordered the motor home to be moved on to an unmarked unused Llano County road? That motor home has indeed been moved back to where it was parked before Rodriguez forced it to be moved. Why hasn't the County paid for the cost of moving it back? To say nothing of the damage.

Equally pointedly, why is it the County has allowed Theresa Ahrens to park and live in her tiny cottage on that very same road? Why hasn't she been evicted by the County? Why was she assessed taxes on an adjacent improvement she doesn't own?

Why is it, Counselor, Johnny Greene is paying for the attorney retained by Ms. Ahrens? Is Greene attempting to make this all go away by bribery? Greene has also informed Berardi he is going to sue. For what? Has Greene lost his mind?

What about Wells who installed a $4500 septic system on a lot turns out he does not own as a result of Greene, an outrageously inept County, to say nothing of the Llano County Attorney who remains equally determinedly clueless?

How about Bolen who hasn't a pot to piss in, but was nonetheless f--ked over by Greene to say nothing of an egregiously inept County, to say nothing of you and your goddamned equally incompetent office?

None of this is going away, Counselor, -- any time soon. Will not be swept under the carpet as all the other crap going on in this hell hole County. Not a chance. Expect a full expose in this publication whether or not this outrageous fiasco finally gets resolved. Including full public exposure of both the Sheriff and his jackbooted thug.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

Bill Blackburn, Sheriff
Llano County Sheriff's Office
2001 N. State Hwy. 16 Suite A
Llano, Texas 78643

Archive and retain all reports vis a vis damage to the Pace Arrow resulting from egregious abuse of authority perpetrated by Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764, on the Berardi property in Kingsland on 8-16-17.

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
www.libertyinperil.com
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Texas 78609

Wake up, Sheriff. Again, where is dashcam video of the killing of Jeffrey Gray Wise, 52, of Austin by DPS and the Llano County Sheriff's Office? Two hundred forty-seven weeks, now. A goddamned disgrace. Why are you still sitting on this information? What are you hiding, Sheriff? What is the identity of the officers who killed Wise? Too gutless to release this information to the public that pays your salary and that of your goons? Reportedly, there were three officers involved in the shooting.

Who are they, Sheriff? Their past history? An ongoing investigation remains a lame bullshit excuse. How can you and your goons be trusted when you refuse to disclose information? Two hundred forty-seven weeks. Especially, your egregious failure to disclose the identity of the officers who pulled the trigger. To cover your sorry ass, Sheriff? Those of your thugs? The people have a right to know what happened, how it went down. You don't understand that, Sheriff? Sadly, clearly, you answer to no one. Including taxpayers. Especially, taxpayers.

Until you and your goons come clean, doubt will remain this was indeed a good shoot. The longer you drag your feet, the greater the doubt. Think not? Wake up. Your credibility has tanked. Isn't getting any better as this bullshit continues unabated. Two hundred forty-seven weeks. Still no identification of the officers involved ... Can't get your stories straight? In line? Discrepancy between LCSO and DPS? Wake up, Sheriff. The public no longer buys the bullshit. No longer trusts you. On this and many, many other issues. You have no credibility. Absolutely, none.

Readers, this is but one of about four other highly questionable killings by law enforcement in Llano County in the last decade or so. There was one within the City of Llano, another in a field near Fuzzy's Corner, Buchanan Dam, yet another in Point Tella, Buchanan Dam, still another in Tow. If there are any others I may have neglected to mention, kindly email.

It's time the public be fully informed. -- Know what we're dealing with here and how 'law' 'enforcement' operates in this hell hole County. If these jackbooted bastards are not reined in, the life lost could be many others courtesy of a law enforcement system that is no longer accountable to anyone. ... Right, Sheriff? TL? "Sonny Boy?" Madam County Attorney?

The Sheriff seems to have no clue the people who pay him and his goons are entitled to know whom is killing whom and why. This shit always seems to be swept under the carpet. Ignored. The attitude of these jackbooted sons of bitches is trust us. They can't be. They've lied too many times. Refuse to be accountable to anyone. We live in a goddamned fascist police-state where law enforcement does as it pleases. Usually, with impunity. This has to change.

The Texas Rangers have become rubber stamp to atrocities committed by law enforcement. This also has to change. No one is holding law enforcement accountable any longer. No one. No one in state or federal government. This is precisely why Ferguson triggered such an uproar. There was no justice there. None here. None anywhere. Officers are abusive, corrupt, inept.

Falsely ticket and arrest the innocent to line County coffers. Court fees charged continue to be horrendous. -- Aren't taxpayers already looted to pay these costs? Aren't you not only double f--king those falsely accused, but taxpayers also hellaciously looted to pay the very same costs? Yet, the criminal bastards in power in Llano continue to pile on the fees. This is nothing more than goddamned bullshit. This money finds its way into the pockets of the corrupt, abusive bastards who falsely believe they run and own this hell hole.

Would you believe the last time the Sheriff's Office happened to be 'audited' during the Garrett regime, reportedly, auditors couldn't figure out what went where and why? Yet, surprise, surprise. Nothing was done. There has to be transparency. There is none. Why would these thieving bastards want any? ... Right, Sheriff? TL? How else could they so easily steal and loot with virtual impunity? Worse, this reinforces jackbooted power in this goddamned, godforsaken hell hole County.

The public has a right to know the histories of the Sheriff's goons. Clearly, the Sheriff doesn't think so. That is, where they came from. Why they left where they were. What is happening here is the Sheriff is using 'personnel matters' as a convenient excuse to deny the public access to the history of outrageously corrupt, abusive, inept officers who are no more than criminals themselves.

He's protecting his outrageously corrupt, abusive, inept jackbooted bastards. Worse, the standards imposed by sheriff's offices statewide with the exception of metropolitan counties are well below those of DPS and city police departments. Why? So the corruption, abuse, ineptness, and outright stealing can continue unabated? This has to change. ... Can't have that, can we? Sheriff? TL?

The public should understand Llano County authorities have it all sewn up. Did you know the Texas Attorney General does not have the authority to investigate and prosecute County authorities on his own? The District Attorney has to call for an investigation by the Texas Rangers. Then, the State can prosecute if it so chooses.

Consequently? Guess what? Nothing will happen. Nothing ever does. The goddamned corruption continues unabated until you, the public, pressure authorities. Precisely, why we all enjoy the 'best' government money can buy. Literally. Without question, the corrupt, abusive, inept sons of bitches are all bought and paid for. Firmly clamped to the taxpayer tit. Dependent on money looted from innocent citizens caught in their web. Phony fines and court costs cleverly designed to f--k the innocent and enrich the pieces of shit who falsely believe they run and own Llano County. Right, Sheriff? TL? "Sonny Boy?" Madam County Attorney?

Interestingly, the former Sheriff and District Attorney were reportedly forced to retire after an outrageous scandal involving a drunk driving police officer from out of town. Including special treatment of the drunken son of a bitch that no other citizen caught doing the same would have been afforded. An honest, honorable Llano County Deputy suffered the consequences. Forget? Great officers do not last in this hell hole County. ... Right, Sheriff? TL? "Sonny Boy?" Madam County Attorney?

With all ongoing abuse in this goddamned County, one thing remains for damned sure. We're just getting started, Sheriff. You will continue to be exposed for whom and what you and your corrupt, abusive, inept jackbooted bastards have become, truly are, not what you phonies purport to be, that is, how you continue to f--k over a public you've falsely sworn to protect and defend. -- Exposure, the only way short of an unwanted dreaded revolution to force desperately needed change in a goddamned fascist police-state. The Fourth Reich.

Have your jackbooted thugs been tested for steroids, Sheriff? If you've nothing to hide, Bill, release the results of all drug testing. 'Personnel matters?' Bullshit. Looted taxpayers have the right to know. They're footing the bill for all this goddamned corruption, abuse, ineptness. When will you and the boys end the shakedowns? Looting of the innocent to line County coffers? No honor at all?

Where are your swastika armbands, you fascist son of a bitch? You and your thugs remain out of uniform. Once again, Sheriff, and ad nauseum, did you and/or your goons pressure Schilling to exit the race? Did you steal the election? If so, an aggressively stupid, achingly gutless public gets what it truly deserves. One of the most corrupt, abusive, inept 'law' 'enforcement' agencies in our formerly great country.

While the business and church communities stood tall during the recent Kingsland flood catastrophe, there was one glaring exception. On 10-17-18, the Antlers Coffee Shop closed due to storm-related failure of the Kingsland water system. Patrons, however, are routinely allowed to get online outside even when the shop is closed.

A long-term coffee shop customer entered the hotel lobby to ask the desk clerk whether wifi was still up and running after the catastrophe. She said it was and told the patron he could get online inside the closed shop. She then asked him to have another regular customer who had just arrived outside to come in and get out of the cold as well.

Antlers co-proprietor Rick apparently quickly got wind of both customers, made quite a jackass of himself emulating the petulant narcissist currently occupying the Oval Office. Aggressive stupidity at a time the Kingsland business community is indeed suffering, can least afford it. Further proof positive of the old adage 'can fix ignorant, can't fix stupid.'

Why would, why should both customers put up with this? Think this hasn't happened to others?

Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.

Llano County DA "Sonny Boy" is in the news. Received an award. The DailyTrib reports:

"The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission recognized District Attorney Wiley “Sonny” McAfee on August 22 for his efforts in prosecuting natural and cultural resource violations as well as environmental crimes. The commission named the 33rd and 424th district attorney the 2019 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Prosecutor of the Year. McAfee serves Burnet, Llano, Blanco, and San Saba counties. Elected in November 2012 and taking office on January 1, 2013, he has been instrumental in a number of high-profile cases involving Texas game wardens and Texas State Park police officers."

The District Attorney has ignored a complaint filed earlier by this publication regarding special treatment accorded Texas oil man Johnny Greene by the Llano County Attorney and Sheriff vis a vis a property dispute involving a local banker, three other local property owners with homes encroaching on land they don't own, one of which is on an unused Llano County road. To say nothing of damage to a Pace Arrow motorhome on that property. All a result of egregious abuse of authority by Llano County Deputy Leroy Rodriguez, Badge #764. The circumstances of this fiasco can be found above in each and every edition of this publication since this happened two and a half years ago. The Sheriff, the County Attorney, and the District Attorney have all determinedly, concertedly ignored this ongoing, unresolved fiasco raising one ferociously pointed question. How much were they bribed?

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.

Last three months been getting online at the Kingsland HEB. Met quite a few readers at the picnic table. -- People I didn't personally know, but who came up and introduced themselves. Certainly, grateful for your concern, caring, and moral support. One of the Front End managers, Kevin, had granted permission to plug in and access HEB Customer wifi at the picnic table some three months ago. Someone in County government must have subsequently complained. Three months after the fact. LOL. Finally got the boot 6-27-20 from the achingly gutless Store Manager who couldn't, or wouldn't stand up to pressure from this asshole.

Pathetic, isn't it? LOL. Certainly, knew it was coming. Hard to believe it took three months. LOL. Apparently, the gutless Store Manager, Monty, sent out the second in command, Dan, to deliver the happy news. Spoke to him awhile, but sadly as expected, he had nothing substantive to say. Other than, "leave." LOL. Advised him to send out the clearly reluctant Store Manager who apparently wanted to avoid the encounter. Finally, came out. Imagine that.

Asked the Store Manager, Monty Young, for a business card. Remarkably, he had none. Couldn't be, could it? LOL. An HEB Store Manager with no business card? How is that possible? Unlimited corporate greed? Aryan arrogance of a privately-owned corporation? Or, was he simply lying? Informed him he'd indeed be front and center in this next edition.

Before getting into specific detail vis a vis my conversation with the Store Manager, it must be stated staff at the Kingsland HEB is second to none. Have known many of them for years. Work extremely well together as a team. Certainly, exceptionally customer-friendly. The problem with this store is not staff. Not even the Store Manager and Assistant Manager per se, -- who apparently, despite their denials, had been pressured by someone. It's the HEB corporate management suite at the root of most of the problems at this store.

The following salient issues were discussed with the Store Manager before I left. -- Interestingly, none of which he denied. LOL. Readers, have you noticed cheaper generic products are either continually out of stock or discontinued? Especially, after the store changed its product line weeks before the pandemic. Apparently, in an effort to emulate the Marble Falls store that caters to the Horseshoe Bay elite.

New larger shopping carts were brought in to the Kingsland store so shoppers would supposedly buy more product, increase store sales. Shelves are restocked 24 hrs. Staff was unhappy because aisles are too narrow for the larger carts. Makes it harder to stock shelves when the store is open. Not only that, makes it much more difficult for shoppers to navigate the narrow aisles.

Product pricing has steeply increased. They accomplish this both by directly raising prices, as well as in engaging in deception, that is, downsizing product. One recent glaring example is their generic bleach. For awhile, it was unavailable, out of stock. Then, it was downsized from three quarts to two. Price remained at $1. A 33% increase. Done deceptively. At a time when inflation is supposedly non-existent. What ever happened to the HCF quart and a half ice cream that sold for $1.99? Long since gone. Both aforementioned products had already been downsized once before. LOL. List can go on and on. Unbridled corporate greed.

As I reminded the Store Manager, Kingsland residents, for the most part, are poor, young, elderly, and/or disabled, etc. This store now caters to the rich who live on the lake and Sunrise Beach. Not sustainable. ... Especially, if the shit finally hits the fan vis a vis the Trump nazi, and/or a second shutdown occurs courtesy of the raging, poorly-handled, achingly mismanaged pandemic.

To store employees, all of whom I admire, consider personal friends, courageously provide your ongoing grievances to this publication. I will publish them while protecting your identity. If you won't stand up, nothing changes.

As I informed the Store Manager, the problem in Kingsland is the fact HEB has no substantive competition. What is desperately needed is a Walmart or other major corporation to rattle the cage of local HEB management as well as the corporate management suite. Until that occurs, nothing changes, shit happens. ... Right, Monty? Dan?

In the last two and a half weeks or so, three middle-aged women tripped and fell on the curb by the picnic table. Third time, 6-26-20. Took the Store Manager and Assistant Manager quite some time to exit the store and arrive with ice to quell the swelling of the woman who had fallen hard on her face. I subsequently asked Monty to consider painting the curb iridescent red or orange to avoid injury and a future lawsuit.

Responded couldn't be painted red since it wasn't a fire zone. Could certainly be painted orange or some other bright color. If management doesn't care about a lawsuit, where is its concern for the pain and suffering if a customer trips, falls, and suffers serious injury? ... Couldn't care less, Monty? -- Or, is it, shortsightedly, insurance will indeed take care of it? Wake up. Just a matter of time before someone gets seriously injured and sues the living shit out of HEB. Even if HEB prevails in court, it loses. Consider the cost of bad publicity.

To the credit of management, both the Store Manager and Assistant Manager return carts to the front of the store, sanitize them, and pick up trash. Recently, associates informed me the Store Manager wasn't happy about the performance of the Assistant Store Manager. LOL. Apparently, ole' Dan got too good at hiding in the store, shirking cart and other duties, etc. LOL. That's apparently changed. ... Trouble in paradise, boys? LOL. Itching to retire, Dan? LOL. Give me a break. Never a dull moment, -- at customer and staff expense.

Finally, to the motherf--ker in County government who likely complained, don't flatter yourself. Three months? What took so long you gutless piece of shit? LOL. No matter what, Liberty In Peril will remain up and running. Despite the fact it's been more than 21 years, just the very beginning. Far more to come. Far more County corruption, malfeasance, criminal activity to be followed up, and/or exposed. LOL. ... Bribed by Johnny Greene, Madam County Attorney?

Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger

Before getting on with the usual fare, readers may wish to take time to read the following email exchange between Discount Electronics and this writer regarding its highly questionable business practices regarding refurbished lap tops:

Subject:    Re: Re: Your Discount Electronics Order Confirmation (#81644)
From:    libertyinperil@riseup.net
Date:    Wed, August 19, 2020 11:47 am
To:    "DiscountElectronics.com Customer Service" <internet@discountelectronics.com>
Priority:    Normal
Options:    View Full Header | View Printable Version | Download this as a file | Add to Address Book

'How long is this machine under warranty? Received the error message yesterday while booting up: "Alert! The AC Power Adapter wattage and type cannot be determined. The battery may not charge. The system will adjust the performance to match the power available."

'Talked to a local tech who told me I needed the original power supply that came with the Dell lap top, not a cheap foreign replacement. Can you provide any help with this? Since both batteries can't be recharged, I can't use this machine off the grid.'

'On Wed, Aug 19, 2020 at 1:14 PM <libertyinperil@riseup.net> wrote: Thanks for the quick reply. For your information, this machine has been a piece of crap. Not worth the money spent. Intend to fully inform my readership.'

'Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
formerly,
The Llano Ledger
libertyinperil.com'

'This is the first we've heard from you about any issues. You were welcome to contact us during the warranty period.'

'On Wed, Aug 19, 2020 at 1:34 PM <libertyinperil@riseup.net> wrote: That's bullshit. You replaced the battery forget? Usually, I don't piss and moan. Too busy fighting for your lost civil and constitutional rights and liberties. Been problems with the operating system I dealt personally with. Didn't complain. Dealt with a key that came off the keyboard. Another key that wasn't always making proper contact. The plastic finish on the surface of the lap top has grown sticky, apparently deteriorating. The problem that irritated me the most and is unacceptable is the latest issue with the goddamned power supply. The tech I spoke with told me this is a problem he encounters all the time with cheap Chinese knockoffs of the original. This machine was not cheap. You certainly could have afforded to do far better. Will see what my readers think, -- They're as tired of getting ripped off as I am. Business community lining its pockets by selling shit products. Nazi America. Bottomless greed.

'Beside the point. Discount Electronics knowingly sold a defective product. Knew that it was only a matter of time the power supply would fail. There's a principle involved here. One that I intend to make abundantly clear to my readers. While you can't seem to understand this, they will. Thanks for the additional fodder.'

Readers are advised there is a sticker on the back of the power supply stating: "Please remove this sticker." It cannot be easily removed. Will not peel off. Have hesitated to scrape it off since doing so might obliterate anything underneath it, -- if anything. It is not covering a vent and there is no technical reason that it be removed. Certainly, did not affect operation of the supply for the last year and four months I've had the machine.

In follow-up to a case covered repeatedly in this publication and elsewhere, The Associated Press reports:

"Whether an officer who instructed other officers to turn off their body cameras in the aftermath of Andre Hill’s death violated policy is part of a wide-ranging investigation into Hill’s killing, a city spokesperson said Thursday. The instruction was captured on another officer’s body camera footage the day of the shooting and was included in several more copies of videos released by the city Thursday. As officers begin to arrive to the scene early on the morning of Dec. 22, with Hill’s body still laying on the garage floor, an officer can be heard demanding all the other officers turn their body cameras off. “I need everyone to turn their camera off,” the officer said. An officer asks, “On?" The officer responds, “No. Off.” Then the video ends. Officers serve different roles at crime scenes, some requiring cameras and some not, said Glenn McEntyre, a spokesperson for the Columbus Department of Public Safety, which oversees the division of police. “It is possible that some officers were in a position where their cameras were not required to be on,” McEntyre said Thursday in an email. “Who complied with policy and who did not is a question that’s under investigation—an answer today we simply do not yet have.” Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan has promised a full investigation into Hill’s death, including the fact that no one helped Hill afterward as he lay moaning on the garage floor. Quinlan has said Hill would be alive if officers had stepped in. In the moments after Hill was fatally shot, additional bodycam footage shows two other Columbus officers rolled Hill over and put handcuffs on him before leaving him alone again. None of them, according to the footage released last week, offered any first aid even though Hill was barely moving, groaning and bleeding while laying on the garage floor."

“He was bringing me Christmas money. He didn’t do anything,” a woman inside the house shouted at police afterward. In bodycam footage released Thursday, a man inside the house, referring to a stun gun, says: “Why didn’t y’all just taze the dude? Why’d you have to shoot him, dude?” “I can’t answer any of your questions,” an officer responds. “You’re going to have a seat in the car.” The officer who shot Hill, Adam Coy was fired Dec. 28 for failing to activate his body camera before the confrontation and for not providing medical aid to Hill. Coy had a long history of complaints from citizens. Beyond an internal Columbus police department investigation, Ohio’s attorney general, the U.S. attorney for central Ohio and the FBI have begun their own probes into the shooting."

Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve. Forfeiture of liberty. At the hands of outrageously corrupt and abusive government.

"On Aug. 2, Officers Darian Dasko and Madisen Moen misidentified Brittney Gilliam's SUV license plate as one that matched that of a stolen out-of-state motorcycle. The incident, coupled with growing outrage over the killing of Elijah McClain, was one of several encounters between white officers and Black individuals that lead to mass demonstrations in Aurora, Colo., over the summer. The Aurora, Colo., Police Department officers who held a woman and four Black girls ranging in age from 6 to 17 years old at gunpoint after wrongly suspecting they were in a stolen car, will not face any charges."

"The decision puts an end to months of review by the District Attorney's Office of the 18th Judicial District, which called the incident "disturbing" but ultimately ruled the officers hadn't acted unlawfully during the traffic stop."

"What happened to the innocent occupants is unacceptable and preventable, but that alone is an insufficient basis to affix criminal culpability to the two officers involved in the initial contact," Clinton McKinzie, chief deputy district attorney in the 18th Judicial District, wrote in a letter explaining the decision, the Denver Post reported."

Resign in disgrace, Counselor. Failed to do your job. Protected and coddled your jackbooted bastards in blue. Abrogated your oath of office to uphold The United States Constitution.

"On Aug. 2, Officers Darian Dasko and Madisen Moen misidentified Brittney Gilliam's SUV license plate as one that matched that of a stolen out-of-state motorcycle. The Denver Post explains: "A license plate reader installed at an Aurora intersection had alerted police to the car, a blue SUV, because it had the same license plate numbers as a stolen motorcycle from Montana. Officers failed to check whether the SUV matched the physical description of the stolen vehicle." The error turned what had been a fun girls' trip to the nail salon into a traumatic and terrifying experience. Pulling into a parking lot, the officer's pulled out their guns and ordered Gilliam and her 6-year-old daughter, as well as the woman's 12-year-old sister and 14- and 17-year-old nieces out of the car. The incident was captured on video and shared on social media and it was one of several racially charged police encounters that sparked protests across the country over the summer. In the video, the six-year-old is seen sitting on the ground of a parking lot, crying and wailing as Gilliam and the other girls are forced to lie face down on the pavement with their hands behind their backs. "Why are you doing this?" at least one of the girls screams several times between sobs."

"After two additional officers arrive on the scene, they eventually realize their mistake and proceed to uncuff the children and Gilliam, and apologize."

"A day after the traumatizing incident, Interim Chief of Police Vanessa Wilson said the officers had followed the department's "high-risk stop" protocol, which "involves drawing their weapons and ordering all occupants to exit the car and lie prone on the ground." "But," she added, "we must allow our officers to have discretion and to deviate from this process when different scenarios present themselves." On Friday, McKinzie said, "It is our hope, however, that APD will immediately undertake a review of their policies to try and ensure that nothing of this sort ever happens again," McKinzie said, according to the AP."

Jesus Christ. What a crock of shit. Precisely, why law enforcement cannot be trusted. Sadly, one of the reasons our formerly great country is coming apart at the seams. Yet, these idiots never seem to smarten up.

Worse? Ferociously pointedly, continue to self-servingly excuse their determined lack of transparency:

"The Aurora Police Department declined to offer a statement to NPR regarding Friday's decision, saying they cannot comment on an ongoing investigation. "We still have an Internal Affairs investigation going on," a spokeswoman told NPR."

"When white cops point guns at small Black children, there are no consequences in America," David Lane, a lawyer for Gilliam and the girls told the AP. He added that the decision fits a pattern in Aurora, which has been accused of having a history of racism and brutality. In February, the Aurora Police Department cleared the three officers involved in the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who was stopped for waiving his arms while walking home from a convenience store. The officers who responded to the 911 call, surrounded McClain then pinned him on the ground for several minutes while putting him in a carotid hold. Much of the confrontation was captured on the officer's body cameras. Throughout it, McClain can be heard moaning, sobbing, repeating that "it hurts" and pleading with the officers to stop. The district attorney also declined to pursue criminal charges against the officers in that case."

Why aren't these murderous jackbooted bastards in blue subject to the very same justice civilians are subject to when a cop gets killed? Why the double standard? Why are murderous cops protected and coddled? ... Hear the rumble? Too deaf to hear? An unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms for a whole variety of reasons.

No justice. Precisely, why there is desperate need for a new federal agency whose sole function would be to investigate, arrest, charge, and prosecute corrupt, abusive, criminal officers, prosecutors, and judges in a special court that would adjudicate only these cases. Total independence. The only way to rein in these criminals, particularly the murderers in blue.

"Montgomery County officials released police body-camera video Monday from a fatal no-knock raid in suburban Maryland last year — footage that confirmed SWAT officers did not record the actual shooting of 21-year-old Duncan Lemp. The seven-minute video, recorded in three segments by a SWAT officer, starts about seven minutes after tactical officers stormed Lemp's house in Potomac on March 12. The video is essentially a walk-through of the house in the aftermath of the shooting. The video captures other occupants of the home and — inside Lemp's bedroom — shows a white sheet placed over his body. None of the front line SWAT officers, per county policy, wore body cameras during the raid."

"A U.S. Capitol Police officer who was injured during the siege on the Capitol by pro-Trump extremists has died, bringing the total number of fatalities from the chaos that gripped Washington on Wednesday to five. Brian Sicknick was a 42-year-old military veteran who had served in the Capitol Police for 12 years, Rep. Don Beyer said in a statement, adding that Sicknick was one of his constituents. He died around 9:30 p.m. ET Thursday "due to injuries sustained while on-duty," Capitol Police said in a statement. "Officer Sicknick was responding to the riots on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol and was injured while physically engaging with protesters," the law enforcement agency said. "He returned to his division office and collapsed." Officials said he was later transported to a local hospital but did not survive. His death is being investigated by both Capitol Police and the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department's Homicide Branch, according to a statement. The U.S. Justice Department is opening a federal murder investigation into Sicknick's death, a source familiar with the matter told NPR's Carrie Johnson. On Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered flags at the U.S. Capitol to be flown at half-staff. "The sacrifice of Officer Sicknick reminds us of our obligation to those we serve: to protect our country from all threats foreign and domestic," Pelosi said. Beyer, a Democratic congressman from Virginia, said Sicknick "gave his life in the line of duty to keep us safe." "His murder multiplies the pain of this dark moment for our nation, and those who brought about this awful crime must be prosecuted and brought to justice," Beyer added. "He made the ultimate sacrifice while protecting those trapped in the Capitol amid a violent assault on our democracy itself." Beyer called for Sicknick to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol, "like others before him who died in defense of the people's representatives." Sicknick was most recently assigned to the Capitol Police's First Responder's Unit. He is only the fifth member of the Capitol Police to die in the line of duty, according to Capitol Police. The most recent previous fatality was in 2014. The circumstances that led to Sicknick's death were not immediately clear as of Friday."

"Howard Liebengood, a 15-year veteran of the U.S. Capitol Police, died Saturday off duty, according to the force. His cause of death was suicide, an attorney for the family said on Monday. "I can confirm that Howard Liebengood died on Saturday by suicide after having been on duty at the Capitol on Wednesday," attorney Barry Pollack said in a statement. "His death is a tragedy that has deprived all of us a dedicated public servant. His family has suffered a devastating loss and asks that they be given space to grieve in private." The U.S. Capitol Police Labor Committee issued a statement over the weekend on Liebengood's death. "We are reeling from the death of Officer Liebengood," union Chairman Gus Papathanasiou said. "Every Capitol Police Officer puts the security of others before their own safety and Officer Liebengood was an example of the selfless service that is the hallmark of USCP. This is a tragic day."

"If you or someone you know is in crisis and need immediate help, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255."

"During the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday, a mob of Trump supporters breached security and entered the building as members of Congress were gathered inside. One officer was seen risking his life to divert an angry mob away from the Senate chamber, leading the group in the opposite direction at a crucial moment when the lawmakers were not yet safely locked down."

"Video taken by HuffPost politics reporter Igor Bobic shows a Black Capitol Police officer standing [in] the hallway a few steps ahead of the mob, trying to hold them back, and then heading up a staircase as the men chase after him. "Here's the scary moment when protesters initially got into the building from the first floor and made their way outside Senate chamber," Bobic tweeted when he shared the video in the midst of the chaos Wednesday afternoon.

"Here’s the scary moment when protesters initially got into the building from the first floor and made their way outside Senate chamber. pic.twitter.com/CfVIBsgywK
— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) January 6, 2021

"The mob continues to follow the officer, who is alone, and shout at him as he makes his way to another area of the Capitol, where more law enforcement awaits. The harrowing video went viral, with nearly 10 million views on Bobic's post as of Monday. The Capitol Police officer has been identified as Eugene Goodman, who is being hailed as a hero for diverting the intimidating mob away from the Senate chamber.

"This moment in @igorbobic stunning footage. In front of the officer, coming up the stairs, is a mass of rioters. The USCP officer glances to his left. Between those two chairs is the entrance to the senate floor. He lured them to his right, away from their targets. pic.twitter.com/knjQQ4GZ0d
— Kristin Wilson (@kristin__wilson) January 10, 2021

"Goodman is an Army veteran who spent time in Iraq, CBS Washington, D.C. affiliate WUSA reports. While the Capitol Police leadership has been criticized for the security failures, and its chief has resigned, many are praising Goodman for his brave and quick-thinking reaction at a crucial moment in the crisis."

"The leader of the mob who chased him, the man seen in the video wearing a QAnon t-shirt, has been identified as Doug Jensen of Iowa. Des Moines police assisted the FBI in arresting Jensen Friday night and he was booked into the Polk County Jail. The sheriff's office said the charges against Jensen provided by the FBI include: knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disrupting the orderly conduct of government business; violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building; and obstructing a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder. Jensen, 41, was also let go from his job as a laborer at a masonry company, the firm's CEO CBS Des Moines affiliate KCCI."

"As a mob of pro-Trump rioters attacked the Capitol on Wednesday, one man in a white hat and backpack grabbed a police officer by the helmet, dragging the officer down the stairs. Soon, other rioters kicked and punched the officer, and one man even bashed the prone figure repeatedly with a pole flying an American flag. The shocking violence against an outnumbered officer is shown in a video first aired by CNN on Sunday. It swiftly went viral, garnering more than 1.6 million views on Twitter by early Monday. The officer seen in the video, as well as in other photos and videos of the moment that later surfaced on social media, has not been officially identified. The extent of the injuries the officer suffered in the attack is not clear. D.C. Metropolitan Police and U.S. Capitol Police did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the video late Sunday. The video adds a new layer of evidence documenting the violence that pro-Trump rioters unleashed during the attempted insurrection at the Capitol, where overrun police tried to protect the federal building. One U.S. Capitol Police officer, Brian D. Sicknick, suffered injures in the incident and later died, and more than 50 other police officers were hurt. One rioter was fatally shot by police, and three other people died following medical emergencies. CNN reported that the video captured the scene outside the Capitol around 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. That’s roughly 10 minutes after President Trump tweeted a video message addressing the crowd, telling the rioters: “We love you. You’re very special.” “We’ve seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil,” Trump continued in the statement. “I know how you feel. But go home, and go home in peace.” The video shows that after the man grabbed the police officer, yanking him down the stairs, others kicked and beat the officer on the ground. As the crowd attacked, people chanted “U-S-A! U-S-A!” and a man shouted, “Take him out.” At the same time, other people in the crowd threw flagpoles, metal crutches and other projectiles at police standing just inside an archway, trying to prevent the mob from entering the Capitol. The attempted insurrection, and Trump’s role in provoking it, were widely condemned by officials, including Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Patrick J. Toomey (Pa.), who this weekend called for Trump to resign. House Democrats readied to impeach Trump this week, unless Vice President Pence and the Cabinet invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him first. After most members of the mob left the Capitol for hotel rooms and flights back to their home states, the damage caused by the pro-Trump mob has been revealed through photographs, videos and firsthand accounts. Windows were shattered, furniture overturned or smashed and Senate offices raided. Police also said they found and disabled two “hazardous” pipe bombs near the Capitol. Officials have launched more than two dozen domestic terrorism investigations, Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) said in a statement on Sunday summarizing a conversation he had with Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy. Crow said he raised concerns about reports of active-duty military personnel participating in the violence last week, and he noted that the rioters brought weapons and bombs to the Capitol. “Long guns, molotov cocktails, explosive devices, and zip ties were recovered, which suggests a greater disaster was narrowly avoided,” Crow said."

"Boeing on Thursday agreed to pay more than $2.5 billion in a settlement with the Justice Department related to charges that it conspired to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration. The charges stem from a pair of crashes involving Boeing 737 Max plane in Indonesia and Ethiopia that left a combined 346 people dead and caused the aircraft to be grounded worldwide from March 2019 until late last year, the Justice Department said. Under Thursday's settlement, Boeing will pay a $243.6 million criminal penalty, $1.77 billion in compensation to its 737 MAX customers and establish a $500 million crash-victim beneficiaries fund to compensate those related to the victims of the crashes. In its statement Thursday, the Justice Department said Boeing admitted in court documents that two of its 737 Max Flight Technical pilots "deceived" the FAA about how the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System impacted the aircraft's flight control system."

Why no criminal prosecution of Boeing employees for murder right up to and including top management? How could they not have known?

"As a result a key document from the FAA as well as airplane manual and training materials for U.S. based airlines lacked vital information about the system. "The tragic crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 exposed fraudulent and deceptive conduct by employees of one of the world's leading commercial airplane manufacturers," said David Burns, the acting assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "Boeing's employees chose the path of profit over candor by concealing material information from the FAA concerning the operation of its 737 Max airplane and engaging in an effort to cover up their deception."

"Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row, was executed by lethal injection early Wednesday for the 2004 killing of a pregnant woman. Montgomery, 52, was pronounced dead at 1:31 a.m. at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., making her the first person executed by the federal government in 2021 and the 11th since the Trump administration resumed federal executions following a 17-year-hiatus last year. "The craven bloodlust of a failed administration was on full display tonight," Kelley Henry, Montgomery's attorney, said in a statement. "Everyone who participated in the execution of Lisa Montgomery should feel shame." Montgomery's death followed a flurry of litigation on Tuesday that culminated in the Supreme Court near midnight clearing the way for her execution by vacating one stay and denying the petition for another that Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan said they would have granted. Montgomery's legal team had argued for the stay, saying their client, who was a victim of sexual abuse, was mentally unfit, making her execution unconstitutional. "No one disagrees that Mrs. Montgomery was the victim of unspeakable torture and sex trafficking. No one can credibly dispute Mrs. Montgomery's longstanding debilitating mental disease -- diagnosed and treated for the first time by the Bureau of Prisons' own doctors," Henry said. "Our Constitution forbids the execution of a person who is unable to rationally understand her execution. The current administration knows this. And they killed her anyway."

"Montgomery was sentenced to death in 2007 for the 2004 killing of Bobbie Joe Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant. Montgomery, having visited the Stinnett home purportedly to purchase a puppy, strangled her victim and cut the unborn baby from her body in order to pass if off as her own. The female infant was later returned to her father unharmed. In October, the Justice Department announced it had scheduled Montgomery's execution for Dec. 8, but the day was moved to Tuesday after two of her attorneys were diagnosed with COVID-19."

"President Trump was ensconced in the White House residence Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, raging about perceived betrayals, as an array of top aides weighed resigning and some senior administration officials began conversations about invoking the 25th Amendment — an extraordinary measure that would remove the president before Trump’s term expires on Jan. 20. A deep, simmering unease coursed through the administration over the president’s refusal to accept his election loss and his role in inciting a mob to storm the Capitol, disrupting the peaceful transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden. One administration official described Trump’s behavior Wednesday as that of “a total monster,” while another said the situation was “insane” and “beyond the pale.” Fearful that Trump could take actions resulting in further violence and death if he remains in office even for a few days, senior administration officials were discussing Wednesday night whether the Cabinet might invoke the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to force him out, said a person involved in the conversations. A former senior administration official briefed on the talks confirmed that preliminary discussions of the 25th Amendment were underway, although this person cautioned that they were informal and that there was no indication of an immediate plan of action. Both of these people, like some others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter."

"Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Thursday called on Vice President Pence and the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to ensure “we have a sane captain of the ship” because Trump has become “unmoored not just from his duty or even his oath, but from reality itself.” Meanwhile, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf on Thursday issued the strongest critique of Trump yet from within the Cabinet. Calling Wednesday’s events “tragic and sickening,” Wolf wrote in a statement, “I implore the President and all elected officials to strongly condemn the violence that took place yesterday.” He vowed to remain in his position to ensure an orderly transition to the Biden administration. William P. Barr, who resigned last month as attorney general, issued an even sharper condemnation of the president he served. He called Trump’s conduct “a betrayal of his office and supporters,” adding in a statement to the Associated Press that “orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable.” Mick Mulvaney, a former member of Trump’s Cabinet as White House chief of staff and director of the Office of Management and Budget, announced Thursday morning that he has resigned from his post as U.S. special envoy to Northern Ireland. He said on CNBC that he informed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: “I can’t do it. I can’t stay.”

"Referring to Trump’s incitement of a mob of supporters to occupy the Capitol, Mulvaney said: “We didn’t sign up for what you saw last night. We signed up for making America great again. We signed up for lower taxes and less regulation. The president has a long list of successes that we can be proud of. But all of that went away yesterday.” A trio of senior White House aides — national security adviser Robert C. O’Brien, deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger and deputy chief of staff Chris Liddell — were contemplating resigning, according to three senior administration officials. Their possible departures, which were first reported by CNN, could trigger a cascade of other resignations from inside the already hollowed-out West Wing."

"There was little communication among the White House staff, other than a message instructing officials to leave early and stay safe. Considerable internal anger was directed toward chief of staff Mark Meadows, according to four aides, both because of what many view as his incompetence in managing the White House and his willingness to prop Trump up while indulging his false election fraud claims. People who interacted with Trump on Wednesday said they found him in a fragile and volatile state. He spent the afternoon and evening cocooned at the White House and listening only to a small coterie of loyal aides — including Meadows, deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, personnel director Johnny McEntee and policy adviser Stephen Miller. Many of his top confidants — Meadows, son-in-law Jared Kushner and first lady Melania Trump, among others — were publicly silent. “He’s got a bunker mentality now, he really does,” the close adviser said."

"The storming of the U.S. Capitol by a mob of President Trump’s supporters on Wednesday was a disastrous failure of security: In a city on high alert, in a building with its own 2,000-officer police department, people forced their way into the sanctums of American democracy with nothing more than flagpoles, riot shields and shoves. Nobody stopped them — and some officers were captured on video appearing to stand back as rioters streamed inside. On Wednesday, while police were still struggling to eject the last intruders from the Capitol, current and former law enforcement officials said it appeared the U.S. Capitol Police and other agencies had failed to anticipate the size and intentions of the crowd that Trump urged to march up Pennsylvania Avenue to where lawmakers were gathered. On the streets of Washington, federal law enforcement agencies and the National Guard — which had been intimidatingly visible during protests this summer following the death of George Floyd — kept a much lower profile."

"And at the Capitol itself, police had set out low barriers and officers were largely in street uniforms, not riot gear. All were prepared to confine a protest, but not to deter an attack, law enforcement officials said. Law enforcement experts said they were mystified by the tactics that police used once the mob was already inside the Capitol. One woman was shot and killed by Capitol police as officers tried to stop a group from penetrating the building, according to two law enforcement officials, who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe security operations. But other police seemed to stand by, observing the disorder instead of stopping it: One image posted on social media showed an officer taking a selfie with one of the intruders, and a video seemed to show officers opening the security fence to let Trump supporters closer. Police did not appear to try to detain the rioters, allowing them to leave unhindered. One even held a woman’s hand to steady her on the Capitol steps. The result was an invasion, in which a heavily guarded symbol of American strength and order fell to chaos with stunning speed. “It’s like watching a real-life horror movie. I mean, we train and plan and budget every day, basically, to have this not happen,” said Kim Dine, who was chief of the Capitol Police from 2012 to 2016. “How it happened, I can’t figure that out.” Dine said he was surprised to see that, on Wednesday, the Capitol Police had allowed rioters to gather so close to the building, on the Capitol steps — and that, once they forced their way inside, the rioters were not immediately arrested. “We protect the people, the place and the process that makes us the United States. That’s why we’re there,” Dine said. But, he said, on Wednesday, “The people, the place, the process — all were attacked.” Shortly after the shooting, the D.C. Police took over handling the removal of crowds from the Capitol grounds. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said the Capitol Police requested the assistance of D.C. police officers to help “restore order at the Capitol.” The Capitol Police, overwhelmed by the crowds, took responsibility for speeding lawmakers to safety and ejecting those who had gotten inside, according to two people familiar with the incident. Once rioters were outside, D.C. police handled removing them from the external stairs, porticos and balconies of the Capitol. Very few people were arrested for the breach, one person said, because officers didn’t have enough backup to take the time to arrest and detain them. “There just weren’t enough personnel to do everything,” one law enforcement official briefed on the episode said. Wednesday’s response by the Capitol Police was a striking contrast to how the force has handled apparent threats near the building in the past. In 2013, Capitol Police and Secret Service personnel opened fire on a car that allegedly had rammed a security barricade. The driver, Miriam Carey, was killed, while her baby daughter was in the back seat."

"The head of the U.S. Capitol Police defended his department’s response to the storming of the Capitol, saying Thursday that officers “acted valiantly when faced with thousands of individuals involved in violent riotous actions.” Washington’s mayor called the police response “a failure.” Chief Steven Sund, in his first public comment on the mayhem from Wednesday, said in a statement that rioters “actively attacked” Capitol police and other law enforcement officers with metal pipes, discharged chemical irritants and “took up other weapons against our officers.” The siege, as the House and Senate were affirming President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory, was “unlike any I have ever experienced in my 30 years in law enforcement here in Washington, D.C., said Sund, a former city police officer. ”Make no mistake: these mass riots were not First Amendment activities; they were criminal riotous behavior. The actions of the USCP officers were heroic given the situation they faced. Lawmakers from both parties have pledged to investigate law enforcement’s actions and questioned whether a lack of preparedness allowed a mob to occupy and vandalize the building. Mayor Muriel Bowser joined in the criticism of the police response. “Obviously it was a failure or you would not have had people enter the Capitol by breaking windows and terrorizing the members of Congress who were doing a very sacred requirement of their jobs."

"When a pro-Trump mob attacked the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, surprisingly few police stood in the way. Protests had been expected for days, but police appeared unprepared for an actual insurrection and not even prepared to keep all the doors locked. Video showed police calmly talking with attackers after they moved into the building. This came after a year of protests and confrontations with police after police shootings and other kinds of killings across the country. Many of those protests were put down more harshly, including those in Washington, D.C. Officials often responded with tear gas, Tasers or stun grenades. "What we see here is that certain bodies are accorded a certain kind of treatment and other bodies are not," said Eddie Glaude, the chair of Princeton University's Department of African American studies, in an interview with NPR's Morning Edition. Glaude, who has written several books about race in the U.S., said that Wednesday's violence at the Capitol demonstrated how "America is more comfortable with protest from the right than it is from the left." Demonstrations from the left are often considered to represent "an existential threat to the country," he said, whereas right-wing protests are taken "as a kind of patriotic gesture."

"A growing number of Democrats called Thursday for the resignation of U.S. Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois, a newly sworn-in Republican who quoted Adolf Hitler at a rally outside the U.S. Capitol this week. U.S. Reps. Jan Schakowsky and Marie Newman, both Illinois Democrats, along with a contingent of state legislators circulating a petition, demanded Miller step down immediately. “There are some things that cross a very definite line and that was one of them,” said Schakowsky, who is Jewish. “At a moment like this, when emotions have been so high on all sides, to invoke the name of Hitler was about as inappropriate and wrong as you can get.” Miller spoke Tuesday at a “Save the Republic Rally” hosted by conservative group, “Moms for America.” The rally took place a day before violent supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol. Miller was among those who voted to overturn election results for President-elect Joe Biden. At the rally, Miller was discussing the need to appeal to young people and said: “Hitler was right on one thing. He said, ’Whoever has the youth has the future.’” Miller’s spokeswoman didn’t respond to multiple requests seeking comment. The Chicago Sun-Times reported Miller responded in now-deleted tweets that she would “never glorify a genocidal dictator” and that her statement “was a denunciation of evil dictators’ efforts to re-educate young people and similar efforts by left-wing radicals in our country today.” The rally hosts defended Miller, saying Thursday that the comments were taken out of context, Miller was owed an apology and, “Truth is truth regardless of the source.” “Moms for America” President Kimberly Fletcher also referenced the Nazi leader in its defense of Miller. “Hitler also said, ‘Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it,’ If we mandate people not talk about the insidious actions of Hitler, we dismiss the horrific events he incited and open the door for them to be repeated,” Fletcher wrote. “The media should focus on the truth instead of relentlessly repeating big lies.”

"Miller, 61, was sworn in Sunday after handily winning the November election to fill the seat left vacant by Republican John Shimkus’ retirement. It’s her first time in public office. Miller, of Oakland, runs a farm with her husband, Republican state Rep. Chris Miller. Her congressional district covers a wide swath of southeastern Illinois along the Indiana border. Her comments drew swift criticism, including from the World Jewish Congress, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Republican U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Jewish state legislators. “A sitting member of Congress who uses Hitler’s obscene methods for indoctrinating children with racism and fascism as a guidepost, igniting hate and violence, has no place in Congress,” said a statement from the Illinois Legislative Jewish Caucus. “If Rep. Miller has any respect left for the role of a U.S. Congressperson or any shred of dignity in her, she will do what’s right and resign.” The group of more than a dozen lawmakers was circulating a petition demanding immediate resignation. It had more than 1,600 signatures by Thursday. Other Illinois Democrats in Congress issued a joint statement condemning the remark as “a black mark on this body and a black mark on our state.”

"The top Democrats in Congress — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) — on Thursday called for President Trump’s immediate removal from office, either by his Cabinet or possibly through impeachment. “By inciting sedition as he did yesterday, he must be removed from office. While there’s only 13 days left, any day could be a horror show for America,” Pelosi told reporters on Capitol Hill. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is preparing to resign, becoming the first Cabinet secretary to leave after Trump incited a mob that attacked the Capitol on Wednesday. Earlier Thursday, Trump pledged an “orderly transition” in a statement issued shortly after Vice President Pence announced Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election at the end of a joint session of Congress that was disrupted for hours by violent Trump supporters.

"The chairs of five House committees sent a letter Thursday to FBI Director Christopher A. Wray requesting a briefing on the agency’s efforts to investigate the riot at the U.S. Capitol one day earlier. In the letter, the committee chairs demanded to know what steps the FBI is taking “to investigate and pursue for prosecution the instigation, planning, and execution of the deadly terrorist attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, by President Donald Trump, his supporters, and outside groups, as well as to disrupt any further activity designed to attack our government.” The letter cites several quotes from Trump, his family members and his personal attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, at Wednesday’s rally outside the White House. Giuliani, for instance, encouraged Trump’s supporters to engage in “trial by combat” to achieve their goal of preventing Biden from becoming president. It also notes that when Trump “finally released a videotaped statement several hours later, he repeated his false claim that the election was ‘stolen’ and praised the insurrectionists, telling them, ‘We love you.’” The lawmakers sending the letter included Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Homeland Security Committee Chair Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), Intelligence Committee Chair Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) and Armed Services Committee Chair Adam Smith (D-Wash.), as well as Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D-Mass.). They requested an “urgent briefing” for the committee’s chairs and top Republicans on how the FBI is working to hold responsible and prosecute the perpetrators of Wednesday’s attack, as well as how the agency has been tracking the group, how federal law enforcement prepared for the events of Jan. 6 and how officials plan to disrupt any further violent plans."

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer have called for President Trump to be removed from office via the 25th Amendment. "I join the Senate Democratic leader in calling on the vice president to remove this president by immediately invoking the 25th Amendment," Pelosi said at a news conference Thursday. "If the vice president and Cabinet do not act, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment." Pelosi said she does not expect they will wait long for Vice President Pence to respond. "It will be 'yes' or it will be 'no,'" she said. The speaker said she hopes Pence would get back to legislative leaders by Thursday and that she and incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer "have made our interest in this known" to the vice president. Her remarks followed similar comments earlier in the day by Schumer. "The quickest and most effective way — it can be done today — to remove this president from office would be for the vice president to immediately invoke the 25th amendment," Schumer said in a statement Thursday morning. "If the vice president and the Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president." Schumer also gave a press conference at which he shared that he and Pelosi attempted to call Pence Thursday morning to tell him to invoke the 25th. "They kept us on hold for 25 minutes and then said the vice president wouldn't come on the phone. So we are making this call public because he should do it and do it right away," he said.

"Invoking the 25th Amendment would require the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to vote to remove Trump from office. It was intended to be used if a president were unable to discharge the office because the chief executive had been badly hurt or incapacitated somehow — but not dead outright, in which case the vice president would step in. The amendment has never been used in practice and is difficult to execute. It was intended as a legal mechanism for a crisis involving the president's physical condition and not as a political tool more like impeachment."

"Black Lives Matter protests, 2020: Overwhelming force from law enforcement in dozens of cities. Chemical dispersants. Rubber bullets and hand-to-hand combat with largely peaceful crowds and some unruly vandals and looters. More than 14,000 arrests. The U.S. Capitol, Jan. 6, 2021: Barely more than a few dozen arrests. Several weapons seized, improvised explosive devices found. Members of a wilding mob escorted from the premises, some not even in handcuffs. The key difference? The first set of protesters were overwhelmingly Black Americans and their allies. The second group was overwhelmingly white Americans who support outgoing President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud. The violent breaching of the halls of power on Capitol Hill by the insurrectionist mob on Wednesday, which left one woman dead of a police gunshot wound, represents one of the plainest displays of a racial double standard in both modern and recent history. “When Black people protest for our lives, we are all too often met by National Guard troops or police equipped with assault rifles, shields, tear gas and battle helmets,” the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation said in a statement. “When white people attempt a coup, they are met by an underwhelming number of law enforcement personnel who act powerless to intervene, going so far as to pose for selfies with terrorists,” it said."

"Broad and bipartisan condemnation of the insurrectionist mob came swiftly as they had a nearly unhindered, hours-long run of the Capitol building complex, the Senate chamber and the House speaker’s office. The ordeal drew expressions of bewilderment and disbelief from some observers who believed such a display was impossible in a democracy as revered as America’s. However, the response to the mayhem is consistent with a long pattern of society’s coddling of racists and downplaying the violent white supremacist ideology that routinely places the grievances of white people above those of their Black, often disenfranchised and downtrodden countrymen and women. Since the founding of the democracy in the blood and secession of the American Revolution, white people’s destructive and obstructionist conduct has been couched in patriotism. It’s been a fundamental part of a national myth about whose dissent and pursuit of redress for grievance is justified, and whose is not. Newly sworn-in St. Louis Rep. Cori Bush, who was among the protesters to face down police and National Guardsmen in 2014 after police killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, told The Associated Press that the race of the Capitol rioters played a big part in their ability to breach the congressional fortress. Had the mob been Black, “we would have been laid out,” Bush said. “The thing is, these are the same people who called us terrorists,” Bush continued. “Confederate flags, ‘don’t tread on me,’ ‘blue lives matter’ flags, the Trump flags — all of it symbolizes the same thing. It symbolizes racism and white supremacy.” The show of force by law enforcement at the Capitol bore little resemblance to the lines of National Guardsmen and other police forces that assembled last year to protect luxury brand retailers against looting, government buildings against breaching and highways against marching by demonstrators across the country. Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, the nation’s largest digital racial justice advocacy group, told the AP that he sees it as “a clear example of how racism works in this country and the clear ways there are different sets of rules and different sets of outcomes based on what race you are.” Although Wednesday’s events represented one of the most alarming attacks on democratic institutions in recent memory, it wasn’t the only seen that day. Apparent Trump supporters forced disruptions at statehouses across the country, including in Georgia, New Mexico and Ohio."

"And that wasn’t the first time that such a disparate law enforcement response to such attacks drew national outrage and criticism of police. Last May, a large group of mostly white men carrying long rifles stormed the Michigan Statehouse building in Lansing over the governor’s coronavirus pandemic shutdown mandates. There were few arrests and little condemnation from the White House. In June, Trump administration officials had federal officers clear BLM protesters with flash bang grenades and tear gas, to facilitate a now infamous photo-op in front of a church near the White House. BLM protesters and their supporters in Portland, Oregon, quickly pointed out Wednesday the huge disparity between Trump’s response to racial justice protests in the Pacific Northwest city and his encouragement of the violence in D.C. On July 27, following his deployment of U.S. agents to quell weeks of demonstrations, Trump tweeted: “Anarchists, Agitators or Protestors who vandalize or damage our Federal Courthouse in Portland, or any Federal Buildings in any of our Cities or States, will be prosecuted under our recently re-enacted Statues and Monuments Act. MINIMUM TEN YEARS IN PRISON. Don’t do it!” The thousands of Capitol building rioters, many who were egged on by the president’s speech at a Wednesday afternoon rally over his election loss, heard a much more compassionate message from their leader, albeit a defiant one. “I know your pain, I know your hurt,” Trump said in a now-deleted video posted to his Twitter account. “You have to go home, now. … We love you. You’re very special.”

"On Thursday, President-elect Joe Biden noted the double standard, saying he had received a text message from his granddaughter, Finnegan, of a photo showing “military people in full military gear — scores of them lining the steps of the Lincoln Memorial” during a BLM protest last year. “She said ‘Pop, this isn’t fair.’” the president-elect recounted. “No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday ... they would have been treated very, very differently than a mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol,” Biden said. “We all know that’s true. And it is unacceptable,” he added. Former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter also weighed in with expressions of consternation, some of them placing blame squarely on Trump. Adding to the cruelty of it all, some observers have noted, is the Capitol building’s history. It was built with help from enslaved Africans, whose blood and sweat later allowed the union to meet there and strategize its battle against pro-slavery Confederates. On Wednesday, images emerged showing custodial staffers of color in the Capitol sweeping up the shards of glass and trash left behind by the rioters. NAACP President Derrick Johnson said the people who violated the Capitol on Wednesday should not be seen as patriotic. “This is not protesting or activism; this is an insurrection, an assault on our democracy, and a coup incited by President Trump,” Johnson said."

"One day later, the violent siege of the U.S. Capitol by President Donald Trump’s supporters forced painful new questions across government — about his fitness to remain in office for two more weeks, the ability of the police to secure the complex and the future of the Republican Party in a post-Trump era. In the immediate aftermath, the attack on the world’s iconic dome of democracy, shocking imagery flashed around the globe, reinforced lawmakers’ resolve to stay up all night to finish counting the Electoral College vote confirming Democrat Joe Biden won the presidential election. But the rampage that left a country on edge prompted lawmakers to launch a congressional review of the U.S. Capitol Police’s failure to stop the breach and is forcing a broader reckoning over Trump’s tenure in office and what comes next for a tattered and torn nation. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that any remaining day with the president in power could be “a horror show for America.” Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called for invoking the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to force Trump from office before Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. At least one Republican lawmaker joined them. The procedure allows for the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare the president unfit for office. The vice president then becomes acting president. Pelosi said if the president’s Cabinet does not swiftly invoke the 25th Amendment, the House may proceed to impeach Trump. Meanwhile, other Republicans who echoed Trump’s false claims of a fraudulent election, including rising stars and some party leaders, faced angry, unsettled peers --- but also those cheering them on. With tensions high, the Capitol shuttered and lawmakers not scheduled to return until the inauguration, an uneasy feeling of stalemate settled over a main seat of national power as Trump remained holed up at the White House. The social media giant Facebook banned the president from its platform and Instagram for the duration of Trump’s final days in office, if not indefinitely, citing his intent to stoke unrest. Twitter had silenced him the day before. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said “the shocking events of the last 24 hours” make it clear Trump “intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power.”

Accountability? ... Or, a bullshit excuse for failure. The Washington Post reports:

"The top federal prosecutor in Washington D.C. said Thursday that President Trump was not off limits in his investigation of the events surrounding Wednesday’s riot at the U.S. Capitol, saying “all actors” would be examined to determine if they broke the law. Asked if federal agents and prosecutors will look at the incendiary statements made by speakers at Trump’s rally shortly before a mob of his supporters breached security at the Capitol and wreaked havoc inside, acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin said: “Yes, we are looking at all actors here, not only the people that went into the building, but … were there others that maybe assisted or facilitated or played some ancillary role in this. We will look at every actor and all criminal charges.” Asked specifically if that included President Trump, who had urged the crowd to “fight like hell,” before the rioting began, Sherwin replied, “We are looking at all actors here, and anyone that had a role, if the evidence fits the element of a crime, they’re going to be charged.” That could also spell fresh legal jeopardy for the president’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, who also spoke to the crowd, declaring at one point, “let’s have trial by combat,” and declaring he was willing to stake his reputation, and that of the president, on being able to someday find criminality in the 2020 vote count. Sherwin, the prosecutor, said that the first priority of investigators are the individuals who personally engaged in destructive or violent acts at the Capitol, or what he called “the closest alligators to the boat.” He also noted there were potential national security risks, with video showing papers strewn around lawmakers’ offices, and some accounts of people taking things from the building. “This is probably going to take several days to flesh out what was stolen what wasn’t,” he said. “Items were stolen from senators’ offices, documents were stolen and we have to identify what was done, and it could have potential national security equities.”

"Sherwin spoke to reporters by phone Thursday to emphasize that the Justice Department and FBI are rapidly pursuing cases against those who engaged in violence or other lawbreaking, saying that dozens of people would be charged by the end of the day, and investigators are continuing to piece together evidence to bring additional cases. But he said those efforts were made harder by the fact that Capitol Police let so many of the people who broke into the building simply walk out. “It appears they were not apprehended or zip-tied by the police,” said Sherwin, a scenario that “has made our job difficult” because agents now have to search cell phone records and gather video footage to “identify people, charge them, and execute their arrest.”

"Three days before supporters of President Donald Trump rioted at the Capitol, the Pentagon asked the U.S Capitol Police if it needed National Guard manpower. And as the mob descended on the building Wednesday, Justice Department leaders reached out to offer up FBI agents. The police turned them down both times, according to senior defense officials and two people familiar with the matter. Despite plenty of warnings of a possible insurrection and ample resources and time to prepare, the Capitol Police planned only for a free speech demonstration. Still stinging from the uproar over the violent response by law enforcement to protests last June near the White House, officials also were intent on avoiding any appearance that the federal government was deploying active duty or National Guard troops against Americans. The result is the U.S. Capitol was overrun Wednesday and officers in a law enforcement agency with a large operating budget and experience in high-security events protecting lawmakers were overwhelmed for the world to see. Four protesters died, including one shot inside the building. The rioting and loss of control has raised serious questions over security at the Capitol for future events. The actions of the day also raise troubling concerns about the treatment of mainly white Trump supporters, who were allowed to roam through the building for hours, while Black and brown protesters who demonstrated last year over police brutality faced more robust and aggressive policing.

"U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, under pressure from Schumer, Pelosi and other congressional leaders, was forced to resign. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell asked for and received the resignation of the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate, Michael Stenger, effective immediately. Paul Irving, the longtime Sergeant at Arms of the House, also resigned. “There was a failure of leadership at the top,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

It is not clear how many officers were on-duty Wednesday, but the complex is policed by a total of 2,300 officers for 16 acres of ground who protect the 435 House representatives, 100 U.S. senators and their staff. By comparison, the city of Minneapolis has about 840 uniformed officers policing a population of 425,000 in a 6,000-acre area."

"There were signs for weeks that violence could strike on Jan. 6, when Congress convened for a joint session to finish counting the Electoral College votes that would confirm Democrat Joe Biden had won the presidential election. On far-right message boards and in pro-Trump circles, plans were being made. The leader of the far-right extremist group Proud Boys was arrested coming into the nation’s capital this week on a weapons charge for carrying empty high-capacity magazines emblazoned with their logo. He admitted to police that he had made statements about rioting in Washington, local officials said.

"Trump and his allies were perhaps the biggest megaphones, encouraging protesters to turn out in force and support his false claim that the election had been stolen from him. He egged them on during a rally shortly before they marched to the Capitol and rioted. His personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, a former New York mayor known for his tough-on-crime stance, called for “trial by combat.” McCarthy said law enforcement’s intelligence estimates of the potential crowd size in the run-up to the protests “were all over the board,” from a low of 2,000 to as many as 80,000. So the Capitol Police had set up no hard perimeter around the Capitol. Officers were focused on one side where lawmakers were entering to vote to certify Biden’s win. Barricades were set up on the plaza in front of the building, but police retreated from the line and a mob of people broke through. Lawmakers, at first unaware of the security breach, continued their debate. Soon they were cowering under chairs. Eventually they were escorted from the House and Senate. Journalists were left alone in rooms for hours as the mob attempted to break into barricaded rooms. Sund, the Capitol Police chief, said he had expected a display of “First Amendment activities” that instead turned into a “violent attack.” But Gus Papathanasiou, head of the Capitol Police union, said planning failures left officers exposed without backup or equipment against surging crowds of rioters. “We were lucky that more of those who breached the Capitol did not have firearms or explosives and did not have a more malign intent,” Papathanasiou said in a statement. “Tragic as the deaths are that resulted from the attack, we are fortunate the casualty toll was not higher.”

Law enforcement miserably failed to do its job. Failed to adequately prepare. Ignored Nazi Right activity on the Internet indicating they were preparing, planning for what happened at the Capitol.

"The Justice Department, FBI and other agencies began to monitor hotels, flights and social media for weeks and were expecting large crowds. Mayor Muriel Bowser had warned of impending violence for weeks, and businesses had closed in anticipation. She requested National Guard help from the Pentagon on Dec. 31, but the Capitol Police turned down the Jan. 3 offer from the Defense Department, according to Kenneth Rapuano, assistant defense secretary for homeland security. “We asked more than once and the final return that we got on Sunday the 3rd was that they would not be asking DOD for assistance,” he said."

"The Justice Department’s offer for FBI support as the protesters grew violent was rejected by the Capitol Police, according to the two people familiar with the matter. They were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity. By then, it was too late. Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department descended. Agents from nearly every Justice Department agency, including the FBI, were called in. So was the Secret Service and the Federal Protective Service. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent two tactical teams. Police from as far away as New Jersey arrived to help. It took four hours to evict the protesters from the Capitol complex. By then, they had roamed the halls of Congress, posed for photos inside hallowed chambers, broken through doors, destroyed property and taken photos of themselves doing it. Only 13 were arrested at the time; scores were arrested later. In the aftermath, a 7-foot fence will go up around the Capitol grounds for at least 30 days. The Capitol Police will conduct a review of the carnage, as well as their planning and policies. Lawmakers plan to investigate how authorities handled the rioting. The acting U.S. attorney in the District of Columbia, Michael Sherwin, said the failure to arrest more people is making their jobs harder. “Look, we have to now go through cell site orders, collect video footage to try to identify people and then charge them, and then try to execute their arrest. So that has made things challenging, but I can’t answer why those people weren’t zip-tied as they were leaving the building by the Capitol Police.”

"The mob violence that descended on the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday was the culmination of weeks of incendiary rhetoric and increasingly feverish planning – much of which took place openly on websites popular with far-right conspiracy theorists. Jared Holt spends a lot of time on those websites. He's a visiting research fellow with the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, where he has been focused on extremist online activity. Since November's election, Holt has seen websites like Parler, Gab, TheDonald, and MeWe fill with torrents of "conspiracy theories, disinformation and outright lies about the results of the election," he says. "And those lies often came from the top arbiters of power in the Republican Party, notably President Donald Trump himself." The events of Jan. 6 brought unprecedented traffic to some niche sites. The CEO of Gab, Andrew Torba, said that the site's traffic was up 40% on Wednesday. More than 80% of the top posts on TheDonald on Wednesday about the Electoral College certification featured calls for violence in the top five responses, according to research from Advance Democracy, an independent, nonpartisan organization. And it wasn't just fringe websites. On Twitter, Advance Democracy found more than 1,480 posts from QAnon-related accounts about Jan. 6 that contained terms of violence since Jan. 1. On TikTok, videos promoting violence garnered hundreds of thousands of views. Trump's claims have fueled increasingly heated rhetoric since the election, Holt says – spiking in the last couple of weeks as Trump doubled down on conspiracy theories like the false and unfounded notion that a company that makes electronic voting systems had deleted votes for Trump. "Then it really, really went nuts," Holt says. After Trump promoted a Jan. 6 protest in D.C., "a lot of his extremist supporters interpreted this as a call to action for them." Holt and his colleagues saw fringe social media sites fill with messages organizing logistics for that date, as well as activation of anti-government extremists like militia groups, conspiracy theorists and white nationalist activists "on a scale and volume that we haven't seen at any other point during the electoral process this cycle." As it became clear over the last week that Vice President Pence was unlikely to try to overturn the results of the election, Holt says the discussion on the right-wing extremist sites turned to taking matters into their own hands. On forum boards like TheDonald and antigovernment and militia movement group chats, those conversations included plans to surround the Capitol on all sides, alongside maps of the U.S. Capitol complex marked with locations of tunnels and entry points. "And there was discussion specifically of overwhelming police with large crowds and doing that in order to violate laws against carrying weapons and against entering federal buildings," Holt says. There wasn't a specific time or a formal plan, "but the discussions to do exactly what we saw [Wednesday] ... this was an idea that was fomenting and spreading and shared approvingly between users in these extremist communities that we've been watching." There was also much discussion on such forums about ways to find and attack Black Lives Matter and antifascist protesters, Holt says. But on Wednesday, those groups largely stayed home. That may have shifted Trump supporters' focus to its eventual target, Holt suggests: "Perhaps the lack of a counterprotest to receive the violence that all these supporters were so ready to unleash meant that that energy instead was directed at the federal government." "Maybe it'll happen — probably not. And then it all happened."

"Several Capitol Police officers have been suspended in connection with last week's fatal riot at the U.S. Capitol by protesters loyal to President Trump, Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman announced Monday evening. Earlier, Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, had said one of the suspended officers took a selfie with a rioter, and another donned a Make America Great Again hat and "started directing people around." Ryan chairs the House subcommittee that is investigating the police response to last Wednesday's riot. He also said that about 10 to 15 other Capitol Police officers are under investigation. The suspensions come as investigators dig through photos and videos posted online showing much of what went on during the attack on the Capitol while Congress worked on certifying the Electoral College vote for President-elect Joe Biden. Pittman said some of the images show "USCP officers and officials that appear to be in violation of Department regulations and policies." Rioters trashed congressional offices and in some cases attacked Capitol Police officers. "It is our intention to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law," Pittman said. Two Capitol Police officers who were on duty during the melee died later, one from physical injuries, and the other by suicide. Pittman, the new acting chief, was appointed after Chief Steven Sund resigned amid complaints that he hadn't prepared for possible violence out of a planned demonstration by Trump supporters. Sund says he did ask for National Guard help but was denied."

"A day after an insurrection that overtook the U.S. Capitol, the Capitol's three top security officials resigned from their posts amid building pressure from lawmakers and others over failures that allowed the dramatic breach. The House and Senate's top protocol officers and the U.S. Capitol Police chief are now all expected to be replaced following a series of resignations in the wake of the security failures. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he accepted the resignation of Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger late Thursday. Earlier Thursday, incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would fire Stenger if he didn't quit first. "Today I requested and received the resignation of Michael Stenger, the Senate Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper, effective immediately," McConnell said. McConnell said lawmakers are beginning to "examine the serious failures that transpired yesterday and continue and strengthen our preparations for a safe and successful inauguration on January 20th." Earlier Thursday, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund resigned his position hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others called for his removal."

"Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao resigned on Thursday, a day after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building. The two members of Trump's Cabinet submitted their resignations on Thursday amid growing calls for Trump to be removed from office via the 25th amendment, CNN and The Wall Street Journal reported. "Today, there was a lot of soul-searching and discussion," a senior administration official told CNN regarding the resignations. "It was obviously the right thing to do." In a letter to Trump announcing her resignation, DeVos said Trump's words served to encourage the rioters. "There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation and it is the inflection point for me," she wrote.

"Chao discussed the matter with her staff and her husband, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, before deciding to resign, saying that Wednesday's riot was "entirely avoidable." In a statement, Chao said the storm of the Capitol building "has troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside."

"Later Thursday, Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division also resigned. In a statement, he said serving in the department "has been the honor of a lifetime."

"President Donald Trump said Friday he will skip President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, undercutting his message a day earlier that he would work to ensure a “smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power.” Trump, who offered no clues for how he would spend his final hours in office, will be the first incumbent president since Andrew Johnson not to attend his successor’s swearing-in. Traditionally, the incoming and outgoing presidents ride to the U.S. Capitol together for the ceremony, as a symbol of the nation’s peaceful transition. Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, and George W. and Laura Bush have said they will attend. The decision to skip the symbolic transfer of power came two days after a violent mob of Trump’s supporters occupied the Capitol for several hours as lawmakers were tallying the electoral votes that certified Biden’s victory. Biden will become president at noon on Jan. 20 regardless of Trump’s plans."

"Simon & Schuster says it has decided not to publish a forthcoming book by Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, citing the lawmaker's role in fomenting this week's "disturbing [and] deadly insurrection" at the U.S. Capitol. Hawley quickly fired back at the publisher, calling the move "Orwellian" and an "assault on the First Amendment." In a statement issued via tweet Thursday evening, Simon & Schuster said it was canceling publication of the book, The Tyranny of Big Tech, following Wednesday's assault on the Capitol by supporters of President Trump who aimed to upend the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's Nov. 3 election victory. Hawley, a Republican and outspoken Trump ally, has been accused of helping incite the throng of rioters who stormed the House and Senate chambers, smashing windows, ransacking offices and forcing frightened lawmakers to take shelter in secure locations. Hawley was also one of six senators who raised objections to the certification of Electoral College votes confirming Joe Biden as the next president. "We did not come to this decision lightly," Simon & Schuster said. "As publisher, it will always be our mission to amplify a variety of voices and viewpoints," the announcement read. "[At] the same time we take seriously our larger public responsibility as citizens, and cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom." Hawley — who was photographed early Wednesday afternoon offering a raised fist in apparent solidarity with the crowd that would later attack the houses of Congress — responded on Twitter to the decision by "the woke mob @simonschuster." He threatened legal action and accused the publisher of quashing free speech."

"My statement on the woke mob at @simonschuster pic.twitter.com/pDxtZvz5J0
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) January 7, 2021

"This could not be more Orwellian," Hawley wrote. "I was representing my constituents, leading a debate on the Senate floor on voter integrity, which they have now decided to rebrand as sedition." "Only approved speech can now be published," he added. "This is the Left looking to cancel everyone they don't approve of. I will fight this cancel culture with everything I have. We'll see you in court."

"Simon & Schuster's decision comes as former Missouri Republican Sen. John Danforth, commenting in the wake of the assault on the Capitol, described his recruitment of Hawley to run for the U.S. Senate in 2018 as "the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life." "I thought he was special. And I did my best to encourage people to support him," Danforth said Thursday. The senator who represented Missouri for nearly two decades until 1995 said if it had not been for Hawley's key role in objecting to the Electoral College votes, Wednesday's chaos "wouldn't have happened." "But for him the approval of the Electoral College votes would have been simply a formality," Danforth said. "He made it into something that it was a specific way to express the view that the election was stolen. He was responsible." Hawley's office did not immediately respond to Danforth's charges, but in a more general statement, the senator said he would "never apologize for giving voice to the millions of Missourians and Americans who have concerns about the integrity of our elections. That's my job, and I will keep doing it."

"@realDonaldTrump, the Twitter feed that grew from the random musings of a reality TV star into the cudgel of an American president, has died. It was not quite 12 years old. The provocative handle was given birth by a New York real estate tycoon who used it to help him become the 45th U.S. president. It began with a May 4, 2009, tweet promoting Donald Trump’s upcoming appearance on David Letterman’s show. It died more than 57,000 tweets later, with Trump using some of his final postings on the powerful platform to commiserate with a pro-Trump mob that besieged the halls of Congress in a deadly assault as lawmakers were set to certify his defeat. The account met its demise when Twitter announced Friday it was pulling the plug permanently on @realDonaldTrump, citing concern that Trump would use it for “further incitement of violence.” Trump retorted that he’d be “building out our own platform in the near future. We will not be SILENCED!”

Legislators questioning law enforcement Capitol failure. The Associated Press reports:

"The police were badly outnumbered. Only a few dozen guarded the West front of the Capitol when they were rushed by thousands of rioters bent on breaking into the building. Armed with metal pipes, pepper spray and other weapons, the mob pushed past the thin police line. One rioter hurled a fire extinguisher at an officer, according to video widely circulated on YouTube. “They’re getting into the Capitol tonight! They’re getting in,” the man filming shouts in delight. They breached the line moments later, and rioters soon broke into the building, taking over the House and Senate chambers and running wild in Statuary Hall and other hallowed symbols of democracy. The mob ransacked the place, smashing windows and waving Trump, American and Confederate flags. The lawmakers who were voting to affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory were forced into hiding for hours. Throughout the melee, police officers were injured, mocked, ridiculed and threatened. One Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, died Thursday night from injuries suffered during the riot. Four other people also died because of the Capitol violence. The melee was instigated by a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump who have professed their love of law enforcement and derided the mass police reform protests that shook the nation last year following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. “We backed you guys in the summer,” one person screamed at three officers backed against a door by dozens of men screaming for them to get out of their way. “When the whole country hated you, we had your back!” The rampage shocked the world and left the country on edge, forcing the resignations of three top Capitol security officials over the failure to stop the breach. Lawmakers have demanded a review of operations and an FBI briefing over what they called a “terrorist attack.” Despite plenty of warnings of a possible insurrection and ample resources and time to prepare, police planned only for a free speech demonstration — a decision that has come under increasing scrutiny since the riot. Rank-and-file officers “were put in a incredibly dangerous situation. And that’s really where my frustration comes in, said Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, who leads a subcommittee that oversees the Capitol Police budget. Police Chief Steven Sund, who along with other top security officials was ousted after the riot, is responsible for protecting lawmakers, “but also making sure that the rank-and-file members are put in situations where they’re as safe as possible and they have the support they need. And that clearly isn’t the case,” Ryan said. One disturbing video shows a bloodied police officer screaming for help as he’s crushed by rioters inside the Capitol building. The young officer is pinned between a riot shield and metal door. Bleeding from the mouth, he cries out in pain and screams, “Help!” Other images show police completely overwhelmed by rioters who shoved, kicked and punched their way into the building. In one stunning video, a lone police officer tries to hold off a mob of demonstrators from cracking into the lobby. He fails."

"The riot focused renewed attention on Capitol Police, a force of more than 2,300 officers and civilian employees that protects the Capitol, lawmakers, staff and visitors. The agency has an annual budget of about $515 million. Three days before the riot, the Pentagon offered National Guard manpower. And as the mob descended on the building Wednesday, Justice Department leaders reached out to offer up FBI agents. Capitol Police turned down both offers, according to senior defense officials and two people familiar with the matter.

"By Saturday, prosecutors had filed 17 cases in federal district court and 40 others in the District of Columbia Superior Court for a variety of offenses, ranging from assaulting police officers to entering restricted areas of the U.S. Capitol, stealing federal property and threatening lawmakers. Prosecutors said dozens of other people were being sought by federal agents, and the U.S. attorney in Washington vowed that “all options were on the table” for charges, including possibly sedition. Among those charged was Richard Barnett, an Arkansas man who was shown in a widely seen photo sitting in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office with his boots on a desk. He also wrote a disparaging note to Pelosi. Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen called the photo of Barnett a “shocking image” and “repulsive. “Those who are proven to have committed criminal acts during the storming of the Capitol will face justice, Rosen said. Two rioters whose photos had become synonymous with the riot were also taken into federal custody and charged on Saturday: Adam Johnson, 36, of Florida, who was photographed walking out with Pelosi’s lectern — where she stood to announce Trump’s impeachment — on theft, violent entry and disorderly conduct charges; and Jacob Anthony Chansley, more commonly known as Jake Angeli, who had become a staple in his fur-clad Viking-like costume and painted face at pro-Trump protests across the country. Also charged was a West Virginia state lawmaker who posted videos online showing himself pushing his way inside the Capitol, fist bumping with a police officer and then milling around the Rotunda as he shouted “Our house!” The lawmaker, Derrick Evans, was arrested by the FBI at his home on Friday and charged with entering restricted federal property. Sen. Mark Warner, the incoming chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called the Capitol a “crime scene” with evidence that needs to be preserved. The Virginia Democrat wrote 11 telecommunication and social media companies on Saturday asking them to immediately preserve messaging data and subscriber information from those who may have participated in the attack, saying it was “critical evidence in helping to bring these rioters to justice.” Those companies include mobile carriers AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon and from the social media world — Apple, Facebook, Gab, Google, Parler, Signal, Telegram and Twitter. Gus Papathanasiou, chairman of the Capitol Police Officers’ Union, said he was “incredibly proud of the individual officers whose actions protected the lives of hundreds of members of Congress and their staff.” Once the breach of the Capitol building was inevitable, officers prioritized lives over property, leading people to safety, he said. “Not one member of Congress or their staff was injured. Our officers did their jobs. Our leadership did not. Our law enforcement partners that assisted us were remarkable.”

"From her couch in Minneapolis, Nuny Nichols watched a mob of largely white extremists stage an insurrection in Washington, D.C., set up a noose on a wooden beam outside the U.S. Capitol and walk a symbol of violence and slavery — the Confederate flag — through the building as they stormed and raided it. She was angry, but she was not surprised at the way people in the mob laughed as they took things from the building. There were white extremists who felt at ease giving their names to media outlets and taking selfies with a white police officer. It stood in stark contrast to the way law enforcement handled protests for Black lives this summer in Minneapolis, where Nichols demonstrated."

"People who were just out there to protest — to make sure our voice is being heard — as soon as they were getting even close to a building, or even close to a police officer, they were instantly tear gassing and they were shooting rubber bullets," she recalls. Meanwhile, she watched this actual mob, incited by President Trump, storm the Capitol with what appeared to be little resistance. "Now the world gets to see the difference between these two situations, where one is us protesting to be seen, to be heard, to not be killed, right?" she said. "And then you have these other people who are just mad because they lost." The president took a different tone on Wednesday than this summer, when he called overwhelmingly peaceful protesters for racial justice "thugs," "agitators" and "looters." He tweeted "when the looting starts, the shooting starts." He threatened protesters outside the White House with "vicious dogs" and "ominous weapons."

"But when the Capitol was stormed Wednesday, Trump told the extremists threatening to execute Democrats and target journalists and BLM activists "we love you, you're very special ... but you have to go home." Prior to the mob storming the Capitol, he'd told the rally of his supporters to "fight like hell." By the end of the day, one person was killed by a police officer, three others died. One police officer later died from his injuries. Two pipe bombs were found at the Democratic and Republican headquarters. Political pundits and elected officials in Washington, D.C., expressed shock that this could happen in the United States. Cries of "this is not what America is" or "no one could have predicted this" were frequent. These claims made Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson livid. She and others had been sounding the alarm for years. "Those of us that are Black, brown, Indigenous, AAPI, Southern and rural and that had watched and studied history since the 1800s know that this is actually very, very possible in America," she said. "Just because folks don't believe those of us that come from targeted and marginalized communities, doesn't mean that we haven't been predicting this all the while. The South has been saying that white supremacists in elected positions is a dangerous and consequential matter that this country needs to pay attention to." She's a national activist for the Movement for Black Lives and co-executive director of the storied social justice center, the Highlander Research and Education Center, in eastern Tennessee. It sounded the alarm when elected officials were espousing or showing sympathy with white supremacist ideals over the past four years. Its administrative building was set on fire last year, a white power symbol spray-painted on the ground. "This isn't new," Henderson said. "There are just dots that aren't being connected. And so I felt frustrated that my friends and I survived Charlottesville and said that white supremacist violence was on the rise, that we survived and fought back." But it felt as if no one was listening to their warnings. All the while, she said, Black organizers and activists were being maligned. "People like me, Black people who have been doing work to actually put this country in a place where we're practicing our ideals around justice and liberty for everybody, are being designated Black identity extremists, being compared to the same people" that are attacking the Capitol, she said. "I felt frustrated, I felt empathy for every targeted and marginalized community in this country that was like, 'God, man, they really clearly treat us differently than they treat white people and all of the hard feelings that come with that.' "

"That hypocrisy was not surprising, she said. "It just exaggerated the contradictions to me around how the state and how police respond to Black and Indigenous and Latinx and Asian and Pacific Islander folks when we protest," she said. "Versus how they responded to gun-toting white supremacists that were coming into the Capitol." Racism and anti-Semitism were on full display Wednesday, although some in the crowd said they don't subscribe to these sentiments. A newly elected West Virginia lawmaker livestreamed himself storming the Capitol as Congress people hid for safety. He was later charged with illegal entry and dozens of others were also later arrested and charged, largely with illegal entry or violating curfew. For Ashley Howard, a historian and scholar of violent protests and social movements at the University of Iowa, her mind didn't jump to protests over the summer seeking to end oppression and injustice. It jumped further back to the nadir of American race relations, a period of American history from the end of Reconstruction to the early 20th century, when violent force was used to maintain the status quo. African Americans lived through a reign of terror: lynchings, segregation, Jim Crow laws and an increase of white supremacy. Wednesday's attack "was a show of force in service of maintaining a racial and social hierarchy," she said. "We see folks shamelessly, shamelessly live-streaming sieging the Capitol ... so this shows how power is working in our nation, that they are doing so without remorse, without fear of any retribution." The smiling photographs of white men armed with bats, shields and chemical spray in the Capitol building made her think of the grisly lynching photographs that were taken in the early part of the 20th century. "Where people were [posing] in front of the deceased person, smiling, preening for the camera, and then authorities would close the investigation of the lynching and say that it had occurred at the hands of persons unknown, unwilling to name and to hold accountable the people who actually did this," she said. "The fact that the FBI is, in essence, crowdsourcing this investigation really to me calls to mind these kind of earlier moments of terror in our history." Meanwhile, she said the FBI used an elite spy plane, a Cessna Citation jet to surveil Black Lives Matter protests in Baltimore in 2015 and police used cell phone tracking technology."

"In Georgia, Ron Harris watched with terror and anger on Wednesday. The Democratic National Committee member had been organizing for the U.S. Senate wins that were overshadowed by the insurrection in Washington, D.C. The state elected its first Black and first Jewish senators in closely contested races in which Democrats flipped the state by turning out Black and brown voters. "To not even have a day to celebrate that, and then to turn on the TV and see a huge white mob that was incited by the president to then take over the Capitol building, it was frustrating because I've seen people tackled, arrested, pepper sprayed, tear gassed, shot with rubber bullets, killed for a whole lot less," he said. Harris protested in his city of Minneapolis last summer. And what he saw in D.C., he says, proves what he and other organizers have been saying: That law enforcement makes choices about how they react to people. Black and brown people protesting for social justice are seen as criminals; a mostly white mob attacking the Capitol are seen as demonstrators. "I think that people, the large majority are saying, 'Look you know how to act when it's white folks, you know how to apprehend when it's someone white, you know how to be calm, you know how not to escalate. You know how not to kill,' " Harris said. "For whatever reason, it seems like that knowledge and that ability and those skills get lost when it's us, when it's Black and brown folks."

Racist nazism. In what is supposed to be a democratic republic. In reality, a de facto fascist police-state.

"Warnings flashing, Democrats in Congress laid plans for swift impeachment of President Donald Trump, demanding decisive, immediate action to ensure an “unhinged” commander in chief can’t add to the damage they say he’s inflicted or even ignite nuclear war in his final days in office. As the country comes to terms with the violent siege of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters that left five dead, the crisis that appears to be among the final acts of his presidency is deepening like few others in the nation’s history. With less than two weeks until he’s gone, Democrats want him out — now — and he has few defenders speaking up for him in his own Republican Party. “We must take action,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared Friday on a private conference call with Democrats. And one prominent Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, told the Anchorage Daily News that Trump simply “needs to get out.” The final days of Trump’s presidency are spinning toward a chaotic end as he holes up at the White House, abandoned by many aides, top Republicans and Cabinet members. After refusing to concede defeat in the November election, he has now promised a smooth transfer of power when Democratic President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on Jan. 20. But even so, he says he will not attend the inauguration — the first such presidential snub since just after the Civil War. In Congress, where many have watched and reeled as the president spent four years breaking norms and testing the nation’s guardrails of democracy, Democrats are unwilling to take further chances. The mayhem that erupted Wednesday at the Capitol stunned the world and threatened the traditional peaceful transfer of power. Pelosi said she had spoken to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley “to discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes” for nuclear war. She said Milley assured her longstanding safeguards are in place. The president has sole authority to order the launch of a nuclear weapon, but a military commander could refuse the order if it were determined to be illegal. Trump has not publicly made such threats, but officials warn of grave danger if the president is left unchecked. “This unhinged president could not be more dangerous,” Pelosi said of the current situation."

"The Democrats are considering lightning-quick action. A draft of their Articles of Impeachment accuses Trump of abuse of power, saying he “willfully made statements that encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — imminent lawless action at the Capitol,” according to a person familiar with the details who was granted anonymity to discuss them. The articles are expected to be introduced on Monday, with a House vote as soon as Wednesday. If Trump were to be impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate, he might also be prevented from running again for the presidency in 2024 or ever holding public office again. He would be the only president twice impeached. A person on the call said Pelosi also discussed other ways Trump might be forced to resign."

"Democrats say the House will consider the impeachment of President Donald Trump on Wednesday, one week after an angry mob of his supporters invaded the Capitol. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told Democrats on a call Monday that members should plan to return to Washington on Tuesday evening to consider a House resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke constitutional authority to remove Trump from office. That resolution is expected to pass, but Pence is unlikely to act. Hoyer says the House will then consider impeachment on Wednesday. House Democrats have moved quickly to draft an article of impeachment charging Trump with incitement of insurrection because he egged on thousands of his supporters ahead of the riots by falsely telling them that the election was stolen from him. One of the Democratic sponsors of the article, Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline, says they have the votes to pass it."

Think insanity isn't rampant in the highest echelons of the Republican Party? Lawyers who should know better? NBC News reports:

"An arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association, a national group representing the top law enforcement officers in their states, sent out robocalls encouraging people to march to the U.S. Capitol the day before the building was stormed by a pro-Trump mob. “At 1 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal,” said the voice on the recording, which was obtained by NBC News. The calls, which did not advocate violence or suggest the building should be breached, was sent out by the Rule of Law Defense Fund, a fundraising arm of the Republican Attorneys General Association. The groups share funding, staff and office space in Washington, D.C. In a statement to NBC News, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who runs the fund, said the calls were sent out without his knowledge. “I was unaware of unauthorized decisions made by RLDF staff with regard to this week’s rally,” said Marshall, who assumed his role Nov. 10. “Despite currently transitioning into my role as the newly elected chairman of RLDF, it is unacceptable that I was neither consulted about nor informed of those decisions. I have directed an internal review of this matter.” A website set up to promote the rally that preceded the Capitol incursion lists the Rule of Law Defense Fund as one of the participating organizations. The site has since been taken down. Adam Piper, the executive director of the Republican Attorneys General Association, and Peter Bisbee, the executive director of the fundraising arm, did not return requests for comment about the robocalls, which were first reported by the watchdog group Documented. A spokesperson for Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, the chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association, said he “had no knowledge or involvement in this decision.” “Attorney General Carr has been working diligently to determine how this situation occurred and ensure that it does not happen again,” said spokesperson Katie Byrd. “The stance of the protestors was not consistent with Attorney General Carr’s position on election fraud. And, as he has been saying since moments after seeing news break, the violence and destruction we saw at the U.S. Capitol is unacceptable and un-American.”

"The Republican Attorneys General Association raised more than $18 million in 2020 from several top corporations, including Pepsi, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase and Comcast, the parent company of NBC News. Its supporters also include interest groups such as the NRA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which was its top donor in 2020 with a $750,000 contribution. Many companies that donated to the Republican Attorneys General Association also gave to the Democratic Party equivalent. Several told NBC News that spending money on this kind of recruitment for protest runs counter to the purpose of their donation. Reached for comment, the Chamber of Commerce provided a statement from Harold Kim, president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. “We are appalled at Wednesday's incursion into the Capital, and did not support any efforts by the Rule of Law Defense Fund,” he said. “We do not support any similar activities now, and will not in the future.” A Microsoft spokesperson said: “We condemn the actions taken by the RLDF and are raising our concerns directly with RAGA. Earlier this week, we spoke out alongside others in the business community regarding the violence that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol.” A JPMorgan spokesperson said its political action committee donated $25,000 to the attorneys general group and none of it went to the Rule of Law Defense Fund. “Our PAC contributions to both the Republican and Democratic Attorneys General associations were used strictly for attorneys generals’ campaign purposes,” the spokesperson said in a statement. The Cherokee Nation Businesses LLC, which donated $150,000 in 2020, said it has requested an immediate refund of its sponsorship to the Republican Attorneys General Association, and the organization obliged. “We had no knowledge of RAGA’s association with the Rule of Law fund or any connection in the January 6 insurrectionists’ storm on the U.S. Capitol,” spokesperson Brandon Scott said in a statement. “Cherokee Nation Businesses does not condone these actions and strongly condemns the insurrectionists and all those who instigated the disruption of the federal government through their words and actions.” Melaleuca, an online wellness shopping club, gave $290,000 to the Republican Attorneys General Association in 2020. “We are appalled at the events that culminated in the storming of the U.S. Capitol,” the company said in a statement. “We have never contributed to Rule of Law Defense Fund. We have been assured by RAGA that none of our contributions to RAGA were given to the Rule of Law Defense Fund.” Pepsi, the NRA and Comcast did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Republican Attorneys General Association did not address questions about the robocall but sought to distance the organization from the event. “The Republican Attorneys General Association and Rule of Law Defense Fund had no involvement in the planning, sponsoring, or the organization of Wednesday’s event,” the spokesperson said. “No Republican AG authorized the staff’s decision to amplify a colleague speaking at the event. Organizationally and individually, we strongly condemn and disavow the events which occurred.” One of its members, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, attended the rally and spoke to the crowd, saying, “We will not quit fighting.” Following the Capitol invasion, he tweeted, “I am sorely disappointed today in the certification of the election, but I don’t believe violence is the answer.” Paxton’s office did not respond to a request for comment."

What is most interesting about the above is the fact that nowhere does it question, state precisely what these top of the food chain donors expected in return for their 'generosity.'

Additional pressure. A second Georgia Trump phone call disclosed. The Washington Post reports:

"President Trump urged Georgia’s lead elections investigator to “find the fraud” in a lengthy December phone call, saying the official would be a “national hero,” according to an individual familiar with the call who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the conversation. Trump placed the call to the investigations chief for the Georgia secretary of state’s office shortly before Christmas — while the individual was leading an inquiry into allegations of ballot fraud in Cobb County, in the suburbs of Atlanta, according to people familiar with the episode. The president’s attempts to intervene in an ongoing investigation could amount to obstruction of justice or other criminal violations, legal experts said, though they cautioned a case could be difficult to prove. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger had launched the inquiry following allegations that Cobb election officials had improperly accepted mail ballots with signatures that did not match those on file — claims that state officials ultimately concluded had no merit. In an interview with The Washington Post on Friday, Raffensperger confirmed that Trump had placed the Dec. 23 call. He said he was not familiar with the specifics of what the president said in the conversation with his chief investigator, but said it was inappropriate for Trump to have tried to intervene in the case. “That was an ongoing investigation,” Raffensperger said. “I don’t believe that an elected official should be involved in that process.” The Post is withholding the name of the investigator, who did not respond to repeated requests for comment, because of the risk of threats and harassment directed at election officials. The White House did not respond to requests for comment. Since Election Day, Trump has made at least three calls to government officials in Georgia in an attempt to subvert President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, beginning with a conversation with Gov. Brian Kemp (R) in early December to berate him for certifying the state’s election results. The president is furious with both Raffensperger and Kemp, who have refused to echo his claims that the election was rigged. He has complained that they betrayed him after he endorsed both of their 2018 elections. At a rally Wednesday in Washington, shortly before his supporters ransacked the Capitol, he attacked them personally onstage, calling the two men “corrupt.” Trump’s call to the chief investigator occurred more than a week before he spent an hour on the phone with Raffensperger, pushing him to overturn the vote. In that Jan. 2 conversation, the president alternately berated the secretary of state, tried to flatter him, begged him to act and threatened him with vague criminal consequences if the fellow Republican refused to pursue his false claims, at one point warning that he was taking “a big risk.” Legal experts said Trump’s call to the secretary of state may have broken state or federal laws that bar the solicitation of election fraud or prohibit participating in a conspiracy against people exercising their civil rights. Trump’s earlier call to the chief investigator could also carry serious criminal implications, according to several former prosecutors, who said that the president may have violated laws against bribery or interfering with an ongoing probe."

"While election officials in Georgia were verifying signatures on absentee ballot envelopes in one metro-Atlanta county, President Donald Trump pressured the lead investigator to “find the fraud” and said it would make the investigator a national hero. The December call, described by a person familiar with it who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to describe the sensitive nature of the discussion, preceded Trump’s Jan. 2 call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger where he asked election officials to “find” enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the state’s presidential election. The call to the investigator occurred as election officials were conducting an audit of signatures on absentee ballot envelopes in Cobb County. The audit, which reviewed more than 15,000 signatures, found no cases of fraud. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation helped conduct the signature audit.

"Trump held at least three phone calls with Georgia officials seeking to overturn the election results before Congress certified Biden’s Electoral College win early Thursday -- hours after a violent throng of pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol. During a call in early December, Trump pressed Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to order a special session of the state legislature to subvert Biden’s victory. Kemp refused. Trump repeatedly lashed out at Raffensperger and Kemp, both fellow Republicans, and others he saw as standing in his way of overturning his election loss."

"The FBI and the New York City Police Department passed information to U.S. Capitol Police about the possibility of violence during the protests Wednesday against the counting of the Electoral College vote, and the FBI even visited more than a dozen extremists already under investigation to urge them not to travel to Washington, senior law enforcement officials said. The previously unreported details undercut the assertion by a top FBI official that officials had no indication that violence was a possibility, and they add to questions about what intelligence authorities had reviewed before the Capitol riot, which led to the death of an officer and four other people, including a rioter who was shot and killed by police. "Social media is just part of a full intelligence picture, and while there was First Amendment-protected activity on social media to include some people making threats, to this point, investigators have not found that there was an organized plot to access the Capitol," a senior FBI official said. It was immediately obvious after the Capitol was seized by a violent mob Wednesday that Capitol Police, whose job is to defend the facility and the lawmakers who work there, had completely misjudged the security threat. The chief of the force was quickly forced out of his job, as were other key legislative security officials. As evidence mounts that some extremists had told the world what they had in mind through social media, questions are emerging about whether the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies took the postings seriously enough — and why, if they did, they didn't step in until well after the building was under attack. Asked Friday whether the slow police response Wednesday was the result of an intelligence failure, the official who leads the FBI's Washington field office, Steven D'Antuono, said no. "There was no indication that there was anything [planned] other than First Amendment-protected activity," he said. D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee said something similar Thursday, telling reporters, "There was no intelligence that suggested there would be a breach of the U.S. Capitol." Ken Rapuano, the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, told reporters that the Justice Department and other law enforcement officials told the Defense Department repeatedly that they had no indications that there would be "significant violent protests." But there were ample indications of potential violence. NBC News has reported that a digital flyer made public on Instagram and Facebook last month referred to what would happen as "Operation Occupy the Capitol." On the fringe message board 8kun, which is popular with QAnon followers, users talked for weeks about a siege of the Capitol. "You can go to Washington on Jan 6 and help storm the Capitol," an 8kun user said Tuesday, a day before the siege. "As many Patriots as can be. We will storm the government buildings, kill cops, kill security guards, kill federal employees and agents, and demand a recount." Daniel J. Jones, president of Advance Democracy Inc., a global research organization that studies disinformation and extremism, told NBC News in a story published the day before the riot: "In regard to the protests planned for Jan. 6, the violent rhetoric we're seeing online is at a new level. There are endorsements of violence across all of the platforms."

"How could the FBI and other agencies have missed all that? It turns out they didn't, officials said. "Prior to this event, the FBI obtained credible and actionable information about individuals who were planning on traveling to the protests who expressed a desire to engage in violence," the senior FBI official said. "The FBI was able to discourage those individuals from traveling to D.C." The official added that "the FBI and our federal, state and local partners collected and shared available intelligence in preparation for the various planned events." "The FBI was prepared to adapt as needed to fluid events on the ground, including having rapid response teams in reserve," the official said. "Throughout most of the day the crowd was peaceful and nonconfrontational. "However, when it became clear that some individuals were surging onto the Capitol grounds and entering the buildings, the U.S. Capitol Police requested assistance. Within 50 minutes of that request, three FBI tactical teams were on scene to gain control of the area and offer protection to congressional members and staff. Over the course of the evening, the FBI presence ultimately grew to over 150 agents and other personnel." The official wasn't in a position to explain why D'Antuono, the head of the Washington field office, said there had been no indications of violence. The FBI official said that by dissuading some extremists from traveling to Washington, the bureau may have prevented an even more violent situation. New York police, who have the most robust intelligence collection and analytical arm of any local police agency in the country, sent law enforcement agencies across the country — including Capitol Police — an intelligence packet describing threats and violent rhetoric on social media in the weeks and days leading up to the rally, multiple senior law enforcement officials said. The officials said Capitol Police were given a specific and separate intelligence report describing extremist rhetoric and threats of violence that appeared on social media in connection with the rally.

"It wasn't just police agencies that issued warnings. A private intelligence report issued in December, obtained by NBC News, said the "'million-MAGA march' in Washington DC on 6 January is the next major flashpoint ... the mass event (which will be held in the National Mall and outside the Capitol) is likely to spark street violence, some of which may be lethal, between Antifa and Trump supporters or far-right groups." Many questions remain about why the FBI, Homeland Security and other agencies didn't do more to make sure the Capitol was protected. Officials have said Capitol Police reassured everyone that they could handle the situation, and key lawmakers said they heard the same assurances from the force.

"The FBI is also under scrutiny. Its top investigative priority is terrorism, foreign and domestic. Had this been an al Qaeda plot to storm the Capitol, some experts said, it is likely that the FBI would have arrested the participants before they left their home airports on the way to Washington. One difference, however, is that there is no domestic terrorism statute, which gives the FBI fewer avenues to legally monitor suspects, including their postings on the dark web, said NBC News contributor Frank Figliuzzi, a former assistant director of the FBI. Outside a criminal investigation of a specific person or group, Figliuzzi said Saturday, "the FBI is not permitted to look and monitor the very same things that you and I can look at on Twitter and Parler." Joyce Vance, a former U.S. attorney for northern Alabama, said the FBI has tools to monitor potential violence by domestic extremists. She suggested that the issue was one of emphasis and will. "The challenge for FBI and DOJ is to assign a permanent priority to domestic white supremacist terror groups and treat them as seriously as they treat foreign terrorism," she said."

"Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger posted a heartfelt video to Twitter on Sunday, recounting his childhood in Austria after World War II and denouncing the violent mob that overtook the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. The video, nearly eight minutes long and set to swelling music, starts by recalling Kristallnacht — or the Night of Broken Glass — an infamous night in 1938 when a mob of Nazi sympathizers stormed through Jewish neighborhoods in Germany, destroying thousands of businesses, rounding up Jewish men to be sent to concentration camps and killing dozens of people in the process. The night was named for the broken glass from Jewish homes and businesses that littered the streets, and it came to symbolize shattered Jewish lives. "Wednesday was the day of broken glass right here in the United States," Schwarzenegger says in the video, which by Sunday afternoon had been viewed nearly 12 million times. "The broken glass was in the windows of the United States Capitol. But the mob did not just shatter the windows of the Capitol. They shattered the ideals we took for granted. They did not just break down the doors of the building that housed American democracy. They trampled the very principles on which our country was founded." Schwarzenegger, who immigrated to the United States in 1968, was born in Austria two years after World War II ended and the Nazi regime fell. In the video, he talks about the emotional pain he remembers all around him during his childhood. "Growing up, I was surrounded by broken men drinking away their guilt with their participation in the most evil regime in history," he says. "Not all of them were rabid anti-Semites or Nazis. Many just went along step by step down the road. They were the people next door." Schwarzenegger's father was a member of the Nazi party — something Schwarzenegger himself didn't know until decades later — and in the video, he talks openly about his father's anger and the abuse his father inflicted on the family after the war. He says he saw the same anger in his neighbors and grew up thinking it was normal. "My father and our neighbors were misled also with lies. And I know where such lies lead," he recalls in the video. "President Trump is a failed leader. He will go down in history as the worst president ever." The former governor is a member of the Republican Party but has often spoken out against Trump. In the video, he denounces members of his party who stand by the president, calling them "complicit" in the insurrection. But he also points out that within hours of the assault on the Capitol, Congress was back in session, certifying Joe Biden's victory over Trump in the 2020 presidential election. "What a great display of democracy," he says."

"In a surprising twist near the end of the video, Schwarzenegger — known not only for his role in the Terminator franchise but also as Conan in Conan the Barbarian — holds up the Conan sword from the film. "Here's the thing about swords," he says, the blade gleaming in the light. "The more you temper a sword, the stronger it becomes. ... I'm not telling you all this because I want you to become an expert sword-maker, but our democracy is like the steel of this sword. The more it is tempered, the stronger it becomes." He ends his message in support of President-elect Biden and with a final message for the people involved in the attack on the Capitol building. "To those who think they can overturn the United States Constitution, know this: You will never win."

"The House reconvened briefly on Tuesday morning to take up Democratic efforts to remove President Donald Trump from office, either by impeachment or invoking the 25th Amendment. The chamber briefly held a pro forma session before adjourning again, ahead of a vote later Tuesday for a resolution urging Vice President Mike Pence to declare Trump unfit for office under the 25th Amendment. The chamber will reconvene to debate the measure and participate in a floor vote late Tuesday afternoon. If Pence does not comply with the resolution, the House will move forward wth a single article of impeachment that was introduced on Monday, which charges Trump with inciting the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol last week. House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer said the impeachment vote would be expected Wednesday, after Pence is given 24 hours to respond. A vote on the "Raskin Resolution," which asks Pence to convene the Trump administration Cabinet and declare that he's "incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as acting president," is expected Tuesday. Pence has not indicated publicly that he will try to have Trump removed under the amendment. The article of impeachment against Trump already has enough support in the chamber to pass. Hoyer said that, once passed in the House, the article of impeachment should be transmitted immediately to the Senate for trial -- which would be Trump's second. He was impeached by the House and acquitted in the Senate a year ago on charges of abusing power and obstructing Congress related to conduct with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. No American president has ever been impeached twice. Some Democrats have raised the idea of delaying the trial in the Senate, which will soon be under Democratic control, for 100 days to allow the chamber to concentrate on passing President-elect Joe Biden's early legislative agenda and confirming his Cabinet choices. Biden said Monday it's possible the Senate could accomplish both immediately. "The question is whether or not, for example, if the House moves forward ... with the impeachment and sends it over to the Senate, whether or not we can bifurcate this," he told reporters in Delaware. Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer of New York said a trial could be held without disrupting Biden's agenda. "We're going to have to do several things at once, but we've got to move the agenda as well," he told The Buffalo News. "Yes, we've got to do both."

"The U.S. House pressed swiftly forward Tuesday toward impeachment or other steps to forcibly remove President Donald Trump from office, even as Trump blamed Democratic foes and not himself for last week’s deadly attack on the Capitol. He targeted the lawmakers who are pushing for his ouster, saying that it’s “a really terrible thing that they’re doing.” “To continue on this path, I think it’s causing tremendous danger to our country, and it’s causing tremendous anger,” he said. He accepted no blame for the Capitol attack and said, “I want no violence.” The defeated president, in his first remarks to reporters since last week’s violence, showed no remorse for firing up the crowd ahead of the deadly invasion with comments that now are part of the impeachment charge of inciting insurrection. The president spoke as he left for Texas to survey the border wall with Mexico, taking no questions, after the most serious and deadly domestic incursion at the Capitol in the nation’s history. Impeachment ahead, the House on Tuesday will first try to convince the vice president and Cabinet to act even more quickly to remove Trump from office, warning he is a threat to democracy in the remaining days of his presidency. House lawmakers are reconvening at the Capitol for the first time since the deadly pro-Trump riot to approve a resolution calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to declare the president unable to serve. Pence is not expected to take any such action. The House would next move swiftly to impeach Trump. “We have to be very tough and very strong right now in defending the Constitution and democracy,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., an author of both pieces of legislation, in an interview. Trump faces a single charge — “incitement of insurrection” — in the impeachment resolution that the House will begin debating Wednesday, a week before Democrat Joe Biden is set to be inaugurated, Jan. 20. The unprecedented events, only the first U.S. president to be twice impeached, are unfolding in a nation bracing for more unrest. The FBI has warned ominously of potential armed protests in Washington and many states by Trump loyalists ahead of Biden’s inauguration. In a dark foreshadowing, the Washington Monument was closed to the public and the inauguration ceremony on the west steps of the Capitol will be off limits to the public. It all added up to stunning final moments for Trump’s presidency as Democrats and a growing number of Republicans declare he is unfit for office and could do more damage after inciting a mob that violently ransacked the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday.

"Democrats say they have the votes for impeachment. The impeachment bill from Reps. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Ted Lieu of California, Raskin of Maryland and Jerrold Nadler of New York draws from Trump’s own false statements about his election defeat to Biden. Judges across the country, including some nominated by Trump, have repeatedly dismissed cases challenging the election results, and former Attorney General William Barr, a Trump ally, has said there was no sign of widespread fraud. The impeachment legislation also details Trump’s pressure on state officials in Georgia to “find” him more votes, as well as his White House rally ahead of the Capitol siege, in which he encouraged thousands of supporters last Wednesday to “fight like hell” and march to the building. The mob overpowered police, broke through security lines and windows and rampaged through the Capitol, forcing lawmakers to scatter as they were finalizing Biden’s victory over Trump in the Electoral College. While some have questioned impeaching the president so close to the end of his term, Democrats and others argue he must be prevented from holding future public office. There is precedent for pursuing impeachment after an official leaves office. In 1876, during the Ulysses Grant administration, War Secretary William Belknap was impeached by the House the day he resigned, and the Senate convened a trial months later. He was acquitted."

"President Donald Trump on Tuesday took no responsibility for his part in fomenting a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week, despite his comments encouraging supporters to march on the Capitol and praise for them while they were still carrying out the assault. “People thought that what I said was totally appropriate,” Trump said. He made the comments during his first appearance in public since the Capitol siege, which came as lawmakers were tallying Electoral College votes affirming President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Trump was heading to Texas on Tuesday to trumpet his campaign against illegal immigration in an attempt to burnish his legacy with eight days remaining in his term, as lawmakers in Congress appeared set to impeach him this week for the second time. The rampage through the halls of Congress sent lawmakers of both parties and Trump’s own vice president into hiding, as crowds called for Mike Pence’s lynching for his role overseeing the vote count. The scene also undermined the hallmark of the republic — the peaceful transition of power. At least five people died, including one Capitol Police officer. In the days leading up to the Jan. 6 certification vote, Trump encouraged his supporters to descend on Washington, D.C., promising a “wild” rally in support of his baseless claims of election fraud, despite his own administration’s findings to the contrary. Speaking for more than an hour to a crowd on the Ellipse, Trump encouraged supporters to “fight like hell” and suggested that Republican lawmakers would need “more courage not to step up” and overturn the will of voters to grant him another term in office. He also suggested he would join them in marching on the Capitol. As Trump wrapped up, thousands of his supporters were already heading to the Capitol, where lawmakers convened to count the electoral votes. As rioters were still in the building and lawmakers sheltered in secure locations, Trump, at the urging of aides who were shocked by the violence, released a video seemingly excusing the events, saying of the rioters: “We love you. You’re very special. Go home.” Speaking Tuesday, Trump said the “real problem” was not his rhetoric, but the rhetoric that Democrats used to describe Black Lives Matter protests and violence in Seattle and Portland this summer, “Everybody to the ‘t’ thought it was totally appropriate,” Trump said of his own comments."

"Eight days from the end of his presidency, President Trump expressed no regret for his comments last week ahead of a riot and mob violence at the U.S. Capitol that resulted in the deaths of at least five people and multiple injuries. "People thought that what I said was totally appropriate," Trump said Tuesday when asked about his role in the siege, despite many at the highest levels of government — Republicans and Democrats — saying otherwise, three of his Cabinet members having resigned and a second impeachment effort now underway. Trump continued by deflecting reporters' questions and shifting focus. "And if you look at what other people have said, politicians at a high level, about the riots during the summer, the horrible riots in Portland and Seattle and various other places, that was a real problem — what they said," Trump claimed, referring to protests over racial inequality and police brutality. He went on to say of his own speech that "everybody — to the T — thought it was totally appropriate." He later added, "You have to always avoid violence." Trump made the comments to reporters on his way to Texas for a visit to one of his signature campaign promises — the border wall. What Trump — and his son Donald Trump Jr. and his attorney Rudy Giuliani — said last Wednesday at a rally on the Ellipse outside the White House has been roundly criticized by various members of Congress from both political parties, who were in direct danger."

"Republicans offered only modest reproach when President Donald Trump said there were “very fine people” on both sides of a white supremacist rally. They stayed in line when Trump was caught pressuring a foreign leader and later defended his handling of a deadly pandemic. But with a sudden force, the wall of Republican support that has enabled Trump to weather a seemingly endless series of crises is beginning to erode. Trump’s weakened standing among his own party will come into sharper focus on Wednesday when the House is expected to impeach the president for inciting a riot at the U.S. Capitol last week. A handful of Republicans have already said they’ll join the effort, a number that could grow as the vote nears. The choice facing Republicans isn’t just about the immediate fate of Trump, who has just seven days left in his presidency. It’s about whether the party’s elected leaders are ready to move on from Trump, who remains popular with many GOP voters but is now toxic in much of Washington. How they proceed could determine whether the party remains viable in upcoming elections or splinters in a way that could limit their relevance. “We’re at the moment now where we’re seeing a fracturing, a breaking, because of the unprecedented situation — the sedition, the violence, the death,” said Steve Schmidt, a longtime Republican strategist who left the party because of Trump. The stunning nature of the deadly insurrection — and Trump’s role in fueling it — has shaken many lawmakers. Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, gave rank-and-file conservatives the green light to abandon Trump in a scathing statement Tuesday evening. “There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution,” she charged."

"More ominously for Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell believes Trump committed impeachable offenses and considers Democrats’ impeachment drive an opportunity to reduce the divisive, chaotic president’s hold on the GOP, a Republican strategist told The Associated Press on Wednesday. McConnell also called major Republican donors this weekend to gauge their thinking about Trump and was adamantly told that Trump had clearly crossed a line. McConnell told them he was through with Trump, said the strategist, who demanded anonymity to describe McConnell’s conversations. The New York Times first reported McConnell’s views on impeachment on Tuesday. While stunning, the fast-moving developments do not ensure Trump will be forced from office before Democrat Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration. The timing of a Senate trial is unclear and could spill into Biden’s presidency. But for the first time, there are real signs that a significant faction of Republicans want to purge Trump from their party. Already, three Trump Cabinet members have resigned in protest. Former Attorney General Bill Barr, who left the White House less than a month ago, accused his former boss of a “betrayal of his office.” It took almost a week for Vice President Mike Pence, whose relationship with Trump has soured considerably since he and his family were forced into hiding during the Capitol siege, to publicly declare he would not invoke the 25th Amendment of the Constitution to remove Trump from office.

"It’s unclear whether the chaos in Washington represents an existential threat to the party, but it almost certainly threatens to undermine the GOP’s short-term political goals. Several major corporations, many of them reliably Republican donors, have promised to stop sending political donations to any of the 147 Republicans who perpetuated Trump’s false claims of election fraud by voting to reject Biden’s victory last week.

The fundraising challenge comes at a bad time for the GOP. History suggests that the Republican Party, as the minority party in Washington, should regain control of the House or Senate in 2022. At the same time, a collection of ambitious Republicans are trying to position themselves to run for the White House in 2024. They are also contending with Trump’s legacy. One of them, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, reminded reporters on Tuesday that he’s condemned the Trump presidency from the very beginning. “I’ve been in the same place I’ve been for the whole four years. A lot of people have just changed their position,” Hogan said, while vowing not to leave the GOP. “I don’t want to leave the party and let these people who did a hostile takeover four years ago take over.” Despite Hogan’s confidence, he is far less popular among Trump’s loyal base — a group likely to hold great sway in the selection of the party’s next presidential nominee — than the likes of Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri, two other 2024 prospects who voted to reject Biden’s victory last week, even after the uprising. “Republican leaders do not know how to move forward,” Republican pollster Frank Luntz said. “Everybody’s afraid that Donald Trump will tell people to come after them, but they also realize they’re losing the center of America. They’re trapped.”

"President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial could begin on Inauguration Day, just as Democrat Joe Biden takes the oath of office in an ever-more-extraordinary end to the defeated president’s tenure in the White House. The timing is not set and depends heavily on when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi decides to transmit the article of impeachment to the Senate. Democrats hoping to avoid interrupting Biden’s inauguration have suggested holding back until the new president has a chance to get his administration going. What is clear is that the trial ahead will be unlike any other in the nation’s history, the first for a president no longer in office. And, politically, it will force a reckoning among some Republicans who have stood by Trump throughout his presidency and largely allowed him to spread false attacks against the integrity of the 2020 election. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is open to considering impeachment, having told associates he is done with Trump, but he has not signaled how he would vote. The Republican leader holds great sway in his party even though convening the trial will be among his last acts as majority leader. Two new senators from Georgia, both Democrats, are to be sworn into office leaving the chamber divided 50-50. That tips the majority to the Democrats once Kamala Harris takes office, as the vice president is a tie-breaker. In a note to colleagues Wednesday, McConnell said he had “not made a final decision on how I will vote” in a Senate impeachment trial. Trump was impeached Wednesday by the House over the deadly Capitol siege, the only president in U.S. history twice impeached, after a pro-Trump mob stormed the building. The attack has left the nation’s capital, and other capital cites, under high security amid threats of more violence around the inauguration. Pelosi has not said when she will take the next step to transmit the impeachment article, a sole charge of incitement of insurrection. Under Senate procedure, the trial is set to start soon after the House delivers the article of impeachment. That could mean starting the trial at 1 p.m. on Inauguration Day. The ceremony at the Capitol starts at noon. After Trump’s first impeachment, in 2019, she withheld the articles for some time to set the stage for the Senate action. Biden has said the Senate should be able to split its time and do both — hold the trial and start working on his priorities. With the Capitol secured by armed National Guard troops inside and out, the House voted 232-197 on Wednesday to impeach Trump. The proceedings moved at lightning speed, with lawmakers voting just one week after violent pro-Trump loyalists stormed the Capitol, egged on by the president’s calls for them to “fight like hell” against the election results. Ten Republicans fled Trump, joining Democrats who said he needed to be held accountable and warned ominously of a “clear and present danger” if Congress should leave him unchecked before Democrat Joe Biden’s inauguration Jan. 20. It was the most bipartisan presidential impeachment in modern times, more so than against Bill Clinton in 1998."

"New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who had been expected to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom later this week, has instead declined the honor, citing last week's violence at the Capitol. "Recently I was offered the opportunity to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which I was flattered by out of respect for what the honor represents and admiration for prior recipients," the six-time Super Bowl legend and early Trump supporter said in a statement reported by the National Football League late Monday. "Subsequently, the tragic events of last week occurred and the decision has been made not to move forward with the award." "Above all, I am an American citizen with great reverence for our nation's values, freedom and democracy. I know I also represent my family and the New England Patriots team," the statement read. The president announced he would give Belichick the nation's highest civilian honor this week, days after Trump supporters stormed into the Capitol building in Washington. Trump had been expected to bestow the honor at the White House on Thursday. Belichick and the president have known each other for years. Trump, at a rally before his 2016 election victory, even read a "letter of praise" from the New England head coach. Belichick's decision to decline the honor at the White House is yet another blow to an increasingly isolated Trump, who has seen a wave of top advisers leave in recent days, also citing the violence. The president's office did not immediately respond to the coach's announcement."

"In his statement, Belichick said that one of the most rewarding experiences in his 46 years with the NFL, 21 with the Patriots, was when the team began openly discussing and addressing inequality and social justice issues this season. "Continuing those efforts while remaining true to the people, team and country I love outweigh the benefits of any individual award," he said.

"This president is not fit to be in office, so anything that he would bestow on anybody is meaningless.

"Thank you, Coach Belichick, for rejecting Trump's award. https://t.co/qyxWJT5VAd
— Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) January 12, 2021

"Speaking on CNN Monday, Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern had called for Belichick to decline the award. "Bill Belichick should do the right thing and say, 'No thanks,' " McGovern said. He commended the Patriots coach on Twitter Monday night for rejecting the award."

"The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday granted a Trump administration request to reinstate restrictions for patients seeking to obtain a drug used to terminate early pregnancies. The decision, issued over a dissent from the court's liberal judges, reinstates a requirement for patients to pick up the drug, mifepristone, in person. Three lower courts had blocked the Food and Drug Administration's in-person pick-up requirement for mifepristone during the coronavirus pandemic, citing the risks of contracting COVID-19 at a doctor's office or a hospital. It's the first abortion-related decision since last year's swearing in of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, whose presence on the high court bench ensured a new conservative majority. Abortion-rights advocates have been fearful of what a conservative majority could do to chip away at legal protections for abortion. Julia Kaye, staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Freedom Project, called the court's decision "chilling" and one that "needlessly" endangers "even more people during this dark pandemic winter." She added that people of color, like Black and Latinx patients, are at particular risk for health risks posed by COVID-19. Requiring them to go to a doctor's office in person to pick up the drug threatens the health and lives of those patients, she said. A spokeswoman for the anti-abortion-rights group Susan B. Anthony List called the decision a "major" victory. The organization believes abortion rights advocates "sought to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic to push abortion by mail, promoting DIY abortion at home, upping the risk of serious complications. The ACLU sued the federal government to challenge the FDA rule. Their case was limited and focused solely on ending that in-person requirement during the pandemic."

"Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority in the 5-4 decision, said the court was not faced with deciding whether "the requirements for dispensing mifepristone impose an undue burden on a woman's right to an abortion as a general matter." Rather, judges were tasked with weighing in on whether the lower courts properly ordered the FDA to lift requirements for in-person collection of mifepristone because of the risks posed by the pandemic, he said. "I do not see a sufficient basis here for the District Court to compel the FDA to alter the regimen for medical abortion," Roberts said."

"Medical abortions involves taking two prescription drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, which together induce the equivalent of an early miscarriage. Telemedicine is the only way many women who live in remote areas of the U.S. can access the abortion pills. A handful of states have only one clinic that provides abortions, forcing patients to drive hundreds of miles to obtain one. But the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, says 18 states prohibit doctors from prescribing abortion pills remotely, adding further obstacles for patients in obtaining them. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in her dissent, wrote, "This country's laws have long singled out abortions for more onerous treatment than other medical procedures that carry similar or greater risks." The FDA's rules "imposes an unnecessary, irrational, and unjustifiable undue burden on women seeking to exercise their right to choose," she wrote. "One can only hope that the Government will reconsider and exhibit greater care and empathy for women seeking some measure of control over their health and reproductive lives in these unsettling times." Abortion-rights advocates are holding out hope the administration of President-elect Joe Biden could walk back the FDA's requirements to take the pill in person. Kaye with the ACLU said, "The Biden-Harris administration must right this wrong on day one and hold firm to its commitment to support both evidence-based regulations and reproductive freedom."

The effort to expose Wells Fargo egregious deceptive trade practices continues. Several years ago to determinedly apply renewed pressure on our truly worthless, egregiously self-serving Texas Attorney General, now Governor, an excoriating email was sent to the bastard. Copies of which were also passed on to both offending Wells Fargo officers. A copy was also sent to the Davis campaign and others at the time.

Voters did have a right to know as Attorney General, the GOP candidate for Governor apparently selectively investigated, or not, bona fide complaints filed by citizens against banks too big to fail. Possibly, Wells Fargo could have lined his pockets in some fashion. That has yet to be determined.

The bastard and his office, no matter what, failed to respond to the complaint originally snail mailed several years ago. This material, figuratively targeting Wells Fargo and the governor 'wannabe' now Governor, had been posted and can be found by scrolling all the way down and clicking on the links well below. ... Governor? Wells Fargo bribe you to look the other way?

Will continue to do all I can to publicly expose this to all, both in this publication and elsewhere. Have done precisely that with the following email sent to Matt Turner, Matt Turner Video Services, Marble Falls, TX. A copy of it was also sent to Wells Fargo officer Amanda Wright. She has, indeed, been promoted branch manager. Reverse Darwinism. Survival of the unfittest.

This young woman has indeed been rewarded by the Wells Fargo corporate management suite for engaging in criminal deceptive trade practices and her undying loyalty to her corporate masters. The process to update those already informed of this fiasco has finally been completed. This latest material can be found by clicking onWells Fargo Deceptive Trade Practices Salvo 240, 2-8-19 .

-- Despite the fact these businesses were, and are, being egregiously f--ked by these very same bastards. Tough, isn't it? Impossible to entertain any sympathy for cowardice, however. Especially in view of the fact this writer has placed himself in great jeopardy taking on these corrupt, abusive, inept criminal bastards. Alone.

Exactly, why you see no investigative material highly critical of these sons of bitches in other local rags. Sadly, cowardly, all advertising income immediately dries up. Consequently, the bastards continue their criminal chicanery with impunity. On a rampage. Thus, you get what you truly deserve. Always. Precisely, why this earlier name change to Liberty In Peril remains appropriate. -- Despite the fact this writer has not yet left the area. Ten years after originally intending to do so. Thirty years in this goddamned godforsaken hellhole.

This writer, then and now, remains primarily interested in state, federal, and international issues. Another reason for this publication name change. Despite the fact I stupidly cluelessly remain here, local issues must be addressed. Can't be ignored. That's where you come in dear readers. Have the courage to inform this writer of local abuse, corruption, ineptness you are aware of, have personally experienced.

... Information these criminal bastards do all they can to conceal, cover up. Otherwise, how can they effectively sustain the charade and intended result? Loot confiscation through a boot heel on the throat of the citizenry.

The only way, short of an unwanted dreaded second American revolution, to force badly-needed change is to expose all this to the light of day. These bastards are beginning to understand they have a problem. No question, the growing rage of those they've abused, looted, egregiously f--ked. It's time to stand up. Expose this corruption to glaring sunlight. Otherwise, as fools, cowards, you will remain under their thumb. From the loftiest business owner to those on the bottom of the food chain. Wake up. Grow a pair.

Still don't think that likely to happen. After all, you're bought and paid for. Owned. Not only by your government masters, but their masters. The corporate management suite. Your employers. Think not? Wake up. You're human chattel. Corporate-owned, bought and paid for. Precisely, why you cowardly, compliantly, literally bare your asses for corporate inspection by the company doctor. Willingly, compliantly, cowardly piss in a cup under employer supervision. To sit in front of a keyboard or stock shelves all day. You have no control of your lives. You're owned. Forget? For a measly salary, no job security, reduced to no benefits. At a time of record corporate profits and cash reserves.

Then, you gallingly complain about the oppression as you tolerate egregious theft of your labor. Not only by your corporate masters, but their bought and paid for government lackeys. Too cowardly to stand up, allow disclosure of your identity when you rightfully complain to this publication of being mercilessly f--ked. Some of you falsely arrested, criminally assaulted, bogusly fined for 'offenses' you did not commit. To line County coffers. Keep the peasants in line and under control. A fascist police-state. Nazi America.

Again, yet another reason why this publication is called Liberty In Peril. Most galling? Nothing changes if you fail to step up and challenge corrupt, abusive, inept authority. Too afraid, cowardly compliant to let the bastards know who you are. Did it ever occur to the cowards out there if the identity of the accuser is kept under wraps the bastards will falsely claim it's all made up by this publication? Thus, conveniently killing all credibility. Wake up.

Cowardice is unbecoming, unworthy of our formerly great country. Insult to injury? There are the hopelessly deranged who believe the chicanery reported here to be manufactured anyway. No matter the effort. No matter the research. No matter the proof. Wake up. This writer cannot do it alone. Snowball's chance in hell. Then again, cowardice, delusion is always amply, justly rewarded. Always. You continue to 'enjoy' the very best government money can buy. Literally.

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Tim Chorney, Publisher
P.O. Box 151
Buchanan Dam, Tx. 78609
libertyinperil@protonmail.com

Liberty In Peril

... Formerly

The Llano Ledger